Hudson Lights in Fort Lee — Courtesy: Tucker Development
By Joshua Burd
A regional falafel chain has joined the tenant mix at Hudson Lights, the 1 million-square-foot residential, retail and entertainment complex near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee.
Tucker Development said this week that the eatery, Mamoun’s Falafel, has signed a 1,615-square-foot lease at the recently opened property. It will be the fourth New Jersey location and the seventh overall for the chain, which was founded in 1971 in Greenwich Village.
It is the latest retailer at Hudson Lights since it opened for leasing last year. Tucker and its partners, Kushner Real Estate Group and funds managed by Ares Management, have attracted a mix of users anchored by an eight-screen, 533-seat iPic luxury movie theater and including tenants such as Paris Baguette, Gayeon Restaurant, CycleBar and Capital One Bank.
Hudson Lights, which also includes 276 luxury apartments, sits opposite a pair of all-glass residential high-rises by SJP Properties known as The Modern. Together, the projects have transformed a 16-acre site that local officials had sought to redevelop for decades.
Mamoun’s is the oldest falafel restaurant in New York, Tucker said in a news release. Along with its flagship location on MacDougal Street in the city, Mamoun’s operates restaurants on St. Mark’s Place in the East Village and in Hoboken, Princeton, New Brunswick and downtown New Haven, Connecticut.
“One of the things that I’m most proud of is the fact that we’ve been able to continue the tradition as we expand our brand and move forward with the changing times,” Mamoun’s CEO Hussam Chater said. “Anchored in our history by keeping our family traditions alive and thriving, we are able to bring that authenticity forward, to new places and generations.”
Other restaurants retailers at Hudson Lights include Tang 2, Anthony Franco’s Pizza, Bean & Bean, Linwood Wines, European Wax Center and CVS.
“Mamoun’s only has restaurants in select locales that are known for their walkability and sought-after for the dynamic and convenient lifestyle that they provide to residents,” said Richard Tucker, CEO of Tucker Development. “The decision to open a restaurant at Hudson Lights speaks volumes about Fort Lee’s emergence as an eclectic and urban-inspired locale that is taking its place among the region’s most sought-after live-shop-play destinations.”