Four restaurants, a hair salon, marshal arts studio, coffee shop and offices of the East Orange Sun newspaper will comprise the first phase of the planned mixed-use undertaking of 2.5 million sf of rental apartments, office, retail and a supermarket.

The second 120,000-sf, $13 million phase is being designed with construction expected to begin by April 2003, Avalon Park Associates CEO Beat Kahli says in a prepared statement. The $8 million, 70,000-sf third phase retail is also scheduled to start next year.

The developer projects a permanent population of 15,000 by 2006. About 200 homes are occupied with a total 2,500 single-family, multifamily and town home projects either under development or planned to break ground shortly, according to the developer's Web site.