Page 18 - RE-NJ

16 JANUARY 2025
improvements, aiming for a look
that honors Dunellen’s history as
a transit village, he said. About
89 percent of the tax burden falls
on residents, so offi cials need to
increase the commercial values of
the downtown to balance things, he
said.
For instance, the borough created
a fi ve-year tax abatement program
to incentivize smaller property
owners to make improvements.
Cilento said he doesn’t want
longtime business owners feeling
pushed out. Getting owners of older
properties to revitalize their sites
while maintaining their historic look
is “just as much my goal (as) to get a
new builder in and tear down an old
building and build something new.”
Cilento said offi cials work with
a town planner, and they survey
residents yearly and run town halls
to make their redevelopment plan
“a living document, to really be
what our residents and our business
owners and general community want
the town to become.”
Locals told him they didn’t want
new apartments, especially taller
buildings, to affect Dunellen’s
small-town feel. As a result, the
redevelopment plan caps projects at
three stories.
Residents were also concerned
about high-density development
Courtesy: Prism
The Nell, Prism Capital Partners’ new 252-unit luxury rental property at 100 South Washington Ave. in Dunellen, has helped
spark other development in the borough.
TAKING NOTICE
I t’s not just local leaders and
developers that recognize the
appeal of downtown Dunellen.
In early November, the borough
announced that it won the
esteemed “Great Downtown”
designation by the American
Planning Association’s New Jersey
Chapter, noting that the award
celebrates vibrant, walkable
business districts that excel in
fostering economic development,
sustainability, cultural vitality and
inclusivity, while touting it as an
endorsement of the collective
efforts of local businesses,
residents and municipal offi cials.
“Dunellen is open for business, and
we invite everyone to experience
the energy and excitement of our
revitalized downtown,” Mayor
Jason Cilento said at the time.
“This is just the beginning, and
we are excited to see what the
future holds as we strive to make
downtown Dunellen an even more
inclusive, sustainable and thriving
place for all.”
The news came just weeks after
Prism Capital Partners accepted a
New Jersey Future Smart Growth
Award for The Nell, its mixed-
use project that redeveloped the
former Art Color printing factory
across from NJ Transit’s Dunellen
train station. The coveted honor
followed the strong lease-up of
the property’s 252 apartments,
which occupy the site alongside
a 9,300-square-foot, freestanding
retail building at 100 South
Washington Ave.
The project’s success is also a
personal
achievement
for Robert
Fourniadis,
Prism’s
senior vice
president for
residential.
He recalled in
Robert Fourniadis
an interview
that, while working for Centex
Homes, he was struck by “this
dilapidated old industrial building”
that he saw while driving through
Middlesex County. He wanted to
build in walkable communities
with transit, and Dunellen seemed
to check all the boxes.
He made an offer on the site, but
that was sidelined by the 2007-2008
recession. After joining Prism in
2012, he got a second chance to
make the deal.
“The Nell is a prime example
of how developers, their
architect partners and municipal
governments can work together to
benefi t communities for the long
term,” Fourniadis said last fall,
as the fi rm announced the New
Jersey Future award. “Prism and
the borough of Dunellen worked
diligently to bring this project to
life. Redevelopment of complex
sites like this can only succeed
through trust, collaboration,
patience and shared goals.”
expanding throughout the town.
Cilento agrees with them.
“Our housing stock is very quaint.
It’s a mix of Victorians and colonials
and Sears homes and capes and
bilevels,” he said. “You drive through
Dunellen, and you can see all eras
of homes that have been built. I
appreciate that look.”
But Taylor and Cohen say there is a
need for new housing. Taylor said
Dunellen has “old housing stock. It’s
not really up to par with a lot of the
new housing that’s coming online.”
“New Jersey in general is still under-
housed,” Cohen said. “There’s not
enough housing to accommodate the
demand that’s out there,” especially
multifamily housing with expanded
amenities.
As Dunellen rebuilds, offi cials keep
multiple issues in mind. Each new
project offers an affordable housing
component. The Nell has 58 units
reserved for that purpose, a higher
percentage due to the total number
of homes, Fourniadis said.
Cilento also said every project
incorporates fl ood and stormwater
management, while the town has a
climate resiliency plan. Meantime,
a new South Avenue culvert under
the railroad embankment and the
federal Green Brook Flood Control
Project should provide additional
protection.
Eventually, Cilento wants to re-
evaluate Dunellen’s fl ooding map.
The Department of Environmental
Protection’s current map adds
more of the borough to the fl ood
zone, forcing changes to planned
developments, he said.
That includes Taylor Architecture’s
North Avenue projects. Brian Taylor
said the team raised the fi rst fl oor
about a foot and added a ramp
and drainage without seriously
impacting the design.
Cilento said the redevelopment plan
is bringing results. He’s seeing more
foot traffi c downtown, and shop
owners tell him they have more
visitors. Dunellen will keep working
to attract new businesses as well.
He’s got big plans for the town
where he grew up and is raising his
family. When he travels around the
state and mentions Dunellen, he
hopes that “people go, ‘Oh, I know
that town.’” RE
Marlaina Cockcroft is a freelance
writer based in New Jersey.