A plan by Villani Realty Group calls for bringing 32 apartments to the historic Villa Maria site on Grove Street in North Plainfield. — Renderings courtesy: Taylor Architecture & Design
By Joshua Burd
More than 30 new apartments are slated to come to the site of a historic sanatorium in North Plainfield after a key approval last month by the borough’s planning board.
According to Taylor Architecture & Design, which is working on behalf of Villani Realty Group, the project at the former Villa Maria property near Route 22 received unanimous support during a vote late last month. The approval marks a key step for the eight-building, 32-unit project on Grove Street — which will have 13 homes reserved as affordable housing — making good on a redevelopment plan that the borough council approved in 2020.
Plans call for a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units in structures that are meant to resemble the nearby single-family homes, Taylor Architecture said. The firm’s Kevin Tempalsky designed the project, whose buildings will have colonial-inspired exteriors with gable roofs, double-hung windows, shutters and covered front porches, while Brian Taylor presented to borough officials.
According to MyCentralJersey.com, Villa Maria was originally a tuberculosis sanatorium that opened in 1889 and closed by the beginning of World War I. The Franciscan order purchased the site in 1938 with an eye toward helping troubled and endangered women, the report said, later adding a long-term nursing facility that closed in 2002.
The outlet noted that the site is one of the largest parcels in North Plainfield. An earlier proposal called for a 225-unit senior housing development, MyCentralJersey.com wrote, but the project never materialized after a 2007 approval by the borough.
Villani Realty’s plan also includes 58 parking spaces, nine of which will be electric vehicle charging stations, as well as three ADA parking spaces, according to North Plainfield-based Taylor Architecture. The balance of the 14.6-acre former site will be open space.
The development team also included land use attorney Joseph Paparo of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman PC as well as civil engineer Michaela Maguire, planner Thomas “TJ” Ricci and traffic engineer Andrew Vischio, all of Stonefield Engineering.
