(Read more on the multifamily market.)
EAST ORANGE, NJ-A partnership called Evergreen-Halstead Assoc. is looking at an early 2008 construction start for a $129.4-million mixed-use redevelopment project. Evergreen Place will rise on a derelict 2.1-acre site bordered by I-280, Evergreen Place, Halsted St. and Freeway Dr. East. The site is also a block from NJ Transit's Brick Church rail station.
"Evergreen will help revitalize East Orange by creating a live-work destination in a central site," says Josh Porter, managing director in BTR Capital's Iselin, NJ office. "It's only 30 minutes by express train to Manhattan."
Evergreen-Halstead is a partnership that includes BTR Capital and the New York-based Saddle River Associates, led by Michael Trencher. The partnership received city council approval a year ago to develop the site, and the city subsequently sold the property to Evergreen-Halstead for $1.4 million.
Actual construction awaits asbestos remediation of two long-vacant office buildings at 30 and 40 Evergreen Place, which are then slated to be demolished once the remediation is completed. Under the terms of its agreement with the developers, the city will pay the estimated $1-million cost of the remediation, with most of that coming from urban enterprise zone tax revenues. City officials say the remediation will be completed by the end of the year, and the buildings should be down by the end of January.
What will then rise on the site will be a 120,000-sf office building, 150,000 sf of retail on two levels, 91 condominium units, a 140-room hotel and a 1,100-car parking structure. The latter would be utilized by residents and tenants of the new complex as well as by NJ Transit rail commuters.
"We are currently working with the city and prospective tenants to finalize the development plan," Porter says. And while no specific tenants have been announced as yet, Hilton is one name that has surfaced for the hotel, and Old Navy, Commerce Bank, Red Lobster and Starbucks are names that have surfaced for the retail portion of the project.
BTR and Saddle River have another project nearby. They co-own the vacant 30,000-sf office building at 100 Evergreen Place, slated for conversion to condos, as well as an adjacent 0.7-acre vacant site.
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