A new 40,000-square-foot PickleRage facility is among the latest examples of recreational uses that officials in Plainfield have sought to attract to the city. — Courtesy: ECA Developers (imaged edited using Gemini)
By Marlaina Cockcroft
First, Plainfield officials focused on building out their housing stock. Now, they’re making sure residents have a reason to stay in town by working to attract new shopping, entertainment and restaurant options.
“We’ve really been focusing on how we can create more of a destination,” said Zenobia Fields, Plainfield’s director of economic development.
She dates the increase in housing to when Mayor Adrian Mapp took office in 2014. The city added about 6,000 units from 2015 to 2025, most of that in mixed-use projects, equating to about $2 billion in investment.
“We’re seeing a lot of people move in from New York, whether they’re coming from Manhattan, Queens or Brooklyn, because it’s cheaper to live in Plainfield and we also have two train stations, so you can travel in and out of the city with no problem,” Fields said. The municipality also wants to increase for-sale opportunities, she added, taking steps such as rezoning substandard single-family homes to build for-sale townhomes and single-family units.
But city officials don’t want Plainfield — which has received Transit Village and Main Street New Jersey designations from the state — to be a bedroom community. As part of the 25-plus redevelopment plans they’ve created, they’ve been working with developers to provide more for residents.
The New World Sports complex is the latest example. ECA Developers had purchased the vacant industrial site at 900 North Ave. to create warehouse space, but the redevelopment plan for the Netherwood Station area calls for recreation. Officials worked with ECA to dedicate half the site to that purpose.
Eric Rabinowitz, a principal at ECA, said the firm and city officials talked about doing commercial indoor recreation “to entertain all the new residents in Plainfield and the surrounding areas.” Fields introduced him to Mike Silva and Irv Landau of PickleRage, a pickleball franchise.
“We pulled a rabbit out of a hat and created an amazing sports entertainment facility, with the first pavilion being PickleRage,” said Rabinowitz, who lives in neighboring Scotch Plains. It also happened to be “something that my family and everyone else’s family locally could enjoy.”
The complex recently held a ribbon cutting to launch PickleRage’s 40,000-square-foot facility, which also features a restaurant and bar. Other recreational tenants should be announced soon.
Other projects are completed or in the works. Plainfield opened the $10 million Rushmore Recreational Aquatics Complex at 1401-1503 West 3rd St. last summer after a multiyear effort, funding 60 percent of the cost with a state Green Acres grant. Across town, officials are planning to create an industrial technology corridor. And a pedestrian plaza is planned at NJ Transit’s Plainfield station, featuring outdoor dining and event space.
“It’s really filling out the city, not just looking at what can we do to attract developers that focus on mixed-use residential,” Fields said.
The arts are a major focus. Artist and Plainfield native Alonzo Adams is creating multiple murals around town. As part of the Cleveland Arts and Cultural District, the city has partnered with SK Development and On Collab in redeveloping the 1920s YMCA building at 518 Watchung Ave. into the 55,000-square-foot Plainfield Recreation and Cultural Center of Excellence, which will include a pool, event and performance space, workforce development space and an art gallery, as well as a building with 220 affordable units. The planning board has approved the site plan, and construction is expected to start this summer, Fields said.
Officials also want to diversify the type of cuisine in the city by attracting larger chains or steakhouses and breweries. They’re already working with Landmark Hospitality, which operates banquet halls in town and runs a culinary school at its Plainfield headquarters. The company, owned by Frank Cretella, is planning to redevelop the Courier News building on the corner of Park and North avenues into a Felina restaurant, among other projects.
Josh Mann, co-managing member of Iron Ore Properties in Millburn, thinks Plainfield has set itself up well for further redevelopment. Iron Ore built 120 apartments at 1000 North Ave., next to Netherwood Station.
“We rarely have more than two or three vacancies,” he said, noting that several residents moved into his building from elsewhere in Plainfield. “You want to have housing diversity, and we think we’ve provided that.”
Iron Ore has also gotten approvals on a 71-unit building around the corner on Leland and South avenues, which should begin construction by May. Mann, previously the attorney for several projects in Plainfield, praises the professionalism of city officials in working with developers.
“I think the mayor has raised the standards in terms of design, materials,” noting that Mapp has instituted an inclusionary zoning program, in which Iron Ore is participating for its next project. Ten percent of the units will be designated as affordable and offered first to city municipal employees, teachers and first responders.
“We’re not able to do that in a lot of towns,” Mann said.
He thinks the city showed leadership in deciding it wanted to see “these dilapidated properties turned into something useful and provide real tax dollars for the municipality,” such as 1000 North Ave., previously an abandoned industrial building.
The city’s shift in focus also makes sense to him.
“You don’t build entertainment first and then build housing, right? You have to have people who are living nearby who could walk to places in order to drive retail.”
Plainfield’s location, as the last train stop on the Raritan Valley Line that’s under an hour from New York, is a selling point as well, Mann said.
ECA is continuing to work in Plainfield as well, planning a 100-unit multifamily project with a 4,000-square-foot restaurant. Rabinowitz said the units will come to market in 2028.
“Mayor Mapp is a visionary,” Rabinowitz said. “He sees empty lots and dilapidated buildings and, by working with local developers and builders, puts exciting new projects on those properties that generate a lot of income for the city.”
Other municipalities don’t welcome developers because of political backlash, he said, adding: “There are just so much more exciting new developments in Plainfield than in any of the surrounding cities.”
Fields said the goal is to showcase everything Plainfield has to offer.
“There’s not many cities that have the diversity that we do,” and its historic districts have “beautiful 150-plus-year-old houses” that have served as the backdrop in Netflix films. Famous residents have included George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic and Milt Campbell.
“We really want to continue building on that performance culture,” she said, noting the Plainfield Symphony is one of the oldest in the state.
She considers the city to be in a continuous process of redevelopment, which will continue to evolve along with opportunities.
“You just have to respond to the times,” Fields said. “There’s never going to be an end date.”
