Page 26 - RE-NJ

24 SUMMER 2022
TAKING SHAPE
S. Hekemian Group unveils new luxury apartments, in latest step to revive ex-Mercedes campus
Often the departure of a major corporate tenant gouges a gaping physical and economic
hole in a community, leaving behind a shuttered facility, overgrown grounds and loss of both jobs and tax revenue.
But that’s not how the story ends
for the 32-acre parcel vacated by the Mercedes-Benz USA headquarters team in 2015 in the heart of Montvale, a leafy Bergen County suburb bordering New York. Instead, the large tract of land across from The Shoppes at DePiero Farm, just east of the Garden State Parkway, is evolving into a sophisticated urban oasis that brings a blush of city living with a blend of apartment rentals, ground- floor retail and office space known collectively as North Market.
Last spring, The S. Hekemian Group of Englewood, which built The
Shoppes in 2017, debuted Workplace North Market, now a nearly fully leased 52,025-square-foot Class A office building with ground-floor retail at 200 Market St. In mid-July, local officials along with the developer
held a ribbon-cutting to announce the completion of The District North Market at 100 Market St., the first
of two residential buildings that when combined will total 308 units. The second building is slated to be completed in September.
become the new hub. I am very proud and sincerely thank the Hekemian team and our planning board members for coming up with what I call the true gem of our county.”
When completed, the North
Market project will include one-,
two- and two-plus apartments with monthly rents ranging from $2,500
to $6,200, including an allocation
of 44 affordable housing units,
95,000 square feet of ground-floor retail spread among the office and residential buildings, as well as an 86,000-square-foot building that will house a Valley Health System surgical center, including 26,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
The Valley Health building replaces plans for a boutique hotel — a pivot the developer made during the pandemic.
“The hotel market is now questionable,” said Peter Hekemian, senior managing director of The S. Hekemian Group. “Instead, we are building a state-of-the-art medical building.”
Hekemian, along with public officials, acknowledged
the project is
a long time
“Lots of work and thought went into this project and now it’s the talk of the county,” Montvale Mayor Michael Ghassali said. “This will
coming, having
traveled a
somewhat
typical but also
atypical road
from acquisition
to development.
There have been challenges at every juncture: rezoning the property
from “Office/Research” to PUD, or Planned Urban Development, winning community support, reaching a
By Tina Traster
Michael Ghassali
Peter Hekemian
Plans for The District North Market, located at 100 and 300 Market St. in Montvale, call for two residential buildings with a combined 308 luxury apartments. The S. Hekemian Group recently welcomed local officials to the property, the former site of the Mercedes-Benz USA headquarters campus, to mark the opening of the first building.
Courtesy: The S. Hekemian Group