Page 16 - RE-NJ

14 JANUARY 2025
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apartment
Photo by Aaron Houston for Real Estate NJ
SMALL TOWN, BIG PLANS
New development helping to spark revival of downtown Dunellen,
as borough eyes additional projects after years of planning
There’s been a fl urry of activity
lately — from new construction
to façade improvements — but
the plan to revitalize Dunellen’s
downtown is more than two decades
in the making.
It’s why offi cials in the Middlesex
County borough are eager to
keep the momentum going with a
balanced but proactive approach
that has caught the attention of
developers and planning advocates.
“This has been a 20-plus-year
conversation,” Mayor Jason
Cilento said, pointing to “a nice
renaissance” that is in full swing
in Dunellen’s central business
district. Developers since 2022 have
completed three projects with a
combined 450 housing units and new
retail space — including a seminal,
award-winning development by
Prism Capital Partners. Three other
proposals are moving ahead after
securing key approvals in 2024,
part of a pipeline of at least eight
projects that are in process or being
reviewed by borough offi cials.
Cilento, who took offi ce in 2020,
credited former Mayor Robert
Seader with laying the groundwork
and specifi cally with getting the
By Marlaina Cockcroft
approvals to redevelop a long-vacant
industrial property downtown
before retiring in 2019. That gave
way to Prism’s project at 100 South
Washington Ave., known as The Nell,
which replaced the former Art Color
printing factory with 252 luxury
apartments and some 9,000 square
feet of retail space.
The development, located directly
across from Dunellen’s train
station, also includes 130 new for-
sale townhouses by K. Hovnanian
Homes.
“That was his big project,” Cilento
said of his predecessor, who spent
21 years leading the 1.1-square-mile
borough of some 8,000 residents. “It
helped build a nice foundation for
where we’re at today.”
Edwin Cohen
The market
has responded.
Edwin Cohen,
principal
partner of
Nutley-based
Prism, said the
apartments
were fully
leased nine
months after opening.
“It was incredible,” Cohen said. “We