Triangle Equities and Incline Capital have secured nearly 75,000 square feet of leasing activity from retail tenants at The Crossings at Brick Church Station on Main Street in East Orange. — Renderings courtesy: Triangle Equities
By Joshua Burd
Retailers are flocking to The Crossings at Brick Church Station in East Orange, accounting for nearly 75,000 square feet of leasing activity at the transformative mixed-use project.
Its developers, Triangle Equities and Incline Capital, said the commitments include a 48,900-square-foot deal with Burlington and a 9,600-square-foot lease with Five Below. Women’s clothing store Rainbow and Verizon have also taken space at the site adjacent to NJ Transit’s historic Brick Church station, taking 6,400 and 1,424 square feet, respectively, helping to round out the roster alongside what will be East Orange’s newest ShopRite location.
Ownership and its leasing team, led by RIPCO Real Estate’s Jake Frantzman, added that Newark Community Health Center will occupy 4,500 square feet, while Angel Nails committed to 3,400 square feet. They join existing tenants including Dunkin’ and Rita’s Italian Ice.
“From the beginning, Triangle’s vision for The Crossings at Brick Church was rooted in placemaking — creating a true neighborhood center that gives East Orange residents a reason to live, shop, and invest in their own community rather than driving to the next town,” said Josh Weingarten, executive vice president at Triangle Equities. “Working alongside Mayor (Ted) Green and our project partners, we’ve assembled a curated mix of retail, dining and housing that functions as a single, cohesive place. This means not only developing retail space but ensuring that more dollars are earned and spent inside this community, ultimately leading to larger economic growth for the city. We believe this project can serve as a blueprint for transit-oriented placemaking in cities across the country.”
The activity comes with leasing underway for the project’s first residential phase, following a project by March Associates Construction with a design team led by Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners. The initial 400 units and retail space are now helping to activate the former longtime site of the Brick Church Plaza shopping center alongside the train station and just north of Interstate 280.
The developers noted that ShopRite has operated at the site for many years and will remain in place until its new home is complete this summer. The new location will include an additional 10,000 square feet of shopping space as well as a larger offering of fresh produce and other features to improve shoppers’ experience and access to healthy food options.
The developers added that the new retailers significantly benefit East Orange residents by providing new job opportunities and additional shopping, health care and dining options to a region that has historically been under-retailed. At last measurement, an analysis by The City of East Orange’s Office of Policy, Planning & Development found that the municipality was losing more than $1.4 billion in local consumer spending to surrounding regions due to a lack of retail options.
Remaining commercial space at The Crossings at Brick Church includes two endcap spaces of 1,650 square feet and 4,000 square feet intended for restaurant and food service, the firms said.
“The Crossings at Brick Church Station sits at the intersection of great highway and transit access, population density, and pent-up retail demand — exactly the fundamentals strong tenants look for,” said Frantzman, a vice president with RIPCO. “We’re thrilled with the lineup we’ve assembled and the momentum this project is carrying into its next phase.”
Triangle added that it was working with the mayor’s office to ensure that retailers at The Crossings prioritize hiring local talent. The firm is also coordinating with Green’s team to develop the East Orange Career Accelerator, a program designed to assist local residents in getting job opportunities using a three-pronged approach to job skill training offering soft skill development, interview prep and resume review.
“Programs like EOCA are critical for the economic development of the city, and as we catalyze these opportunities for local residents, we must also ensure that those jobs are prioritized for our constituents,” Green said. “We are proud to partner with Triangle Equities and look forward to utilizing this program to ensure our workforce is properly trained to compete in the modern job market. We hope to use our partnership with Triangle Equities as a framework to expand on this program going forward.”
The full project is slated to include roughly 1,000 new homes and more than 200,000 square feet of retail. Both residents and businesses will benefit from its proximity to Brick Church station, which provides a 25-minute commute to Midtown Manhattan.
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