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fi gured a year and a half.”
The Nell, whose sixth and fi nal
building opened in 2023, is part of a
stock of new rental housing that also
includes 14 units at 150 North Ave.
by Joseph Villani and Metro 526, a
40-unit project at 526 North Ave.
And that’s poised to grow with other
developments that were approved in
2024, including projects that would
bring a combined 120 units to key
corridors on Front Street and North
Avenue.
Robert Fourniadis, Prism’s senior
vice president for residential, noted
that other developers operating
in Dunellen shows “that we gave
them proof of concept. Once you do
something like this, it just builds on
itself.”
Taylor Architecture & Design’s
busy year in the borough seems to
bear that out. The fi rm designed all
three projects receiving planning
board approval in 2024: an eight-unit
building at 337 Front St., a 50-unit
building at 405-415 North Ave. that
would replace the Dunellen Rescue
Squad and a 62-unit building at 431-
441 North Ave.,
all of which call
for commercial
space. The
developments
have been in
the works since
2022, according
to President
Brian Taylor
Brian Taylor,
and they will replace underutilized
buildings.
Taylor said the town offered his
North Plainfi eld-based fi rm creative
freedom: “We can’t always do the
design that we would love to do” on
projects, due to zoning regulations
or budgetary constraints. “In
Dunellen, we have the best of both
worlds.”
The practice also has three other
mixed-use projects in the works in
Dunellen, though he couldn’t share
details yet.
“It’s a good area, it has a good
demographic and, in addition to
that, it has a mayor and council that
are looking for development,” Taylor
added.
Cilento said that’s his goal. “Our
Main Street story is much like
most Main Street stories,” in that
the malls and highways built in
the 1960s “took the soul out of our
downtown.” Then Art Color, the
town’s main employer, left in the
’60s.
In the 1990s, the business district
was still stagnant, prompting the
push that culminated in 2003 when
the borough adopted a downtown
redevelopment plan. Cilento said,
“If you look at the models around
the state, this is really the way that
you have comeback stories in the
downtown.”
Since he became mayor, property
and business owners have
invested $100 million in downtown
redevelopment projects and façade
Rendering courtesy: Taylor Architecture & Design
A mixed-use development at 405-415 North Ave. in Dunellen would bring 50 new
apartments and commercial space to a site that includes the Dunellen Rescue Squad
and a vacant Bank of America branch.