Page 19 - RE-NJ

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the Township and its residents would
like to see the property developed in
accordance with our current zoning
ordinances.”
“Moreover, we fi nd it interesting
that the same owners now bringing
this litigation have agreed with and
partnered with the Township over
the past several years in having these
lots declared an ‘Area in Need of
Redevelopment,’” Kezmarsky added
in an emailed statement. “We look
forward to our day in court and will
continue to utilize all legal avenues
available to us to remedy this blighted
area of the Township and look forward
to making it something we can all be
proud of.”
The township council voted in May
2022 to designate the site as a non-
condemnation redevelopment area,
which does not allow for the use
of eminent domain. That changed
last November with the council’s
vote to declare a condemnation
redevelopment area.
‘A SPECTACULAR OPPORTUNITY’
Bounded by East Ramapo Avenue,
Franklin Turnpike and King Street, the
assemblage includes six commercial
buildings and one residential building,
all of which are vacant in preparation
for future redevelopment. The site is
a mere 50 feet or so from NJ Transit’s
Mahwah station, and the developers
see it as a gateway to the mile-long
Michael Commorata, managing member
of Mahwah Town Center Redevelopers
LLC, testifi ed in early November as the
Mahwah planning board considered the
use of a condemnation redevelopment
area for a site that the fi rm owns.
Franklin Turnpike corridor to the New
York state line.
Importantly, they’ve also pitched their
project as a way to help Mahwah
satisfy its state-mandated affordable
housing obligations.
MTCR and its affi liates, JMF
Properties and MJC Capital, have
™ 17
extensive experience in such projects,
especially in suburban commuter
towns. Look no further than
communities like Maplewood, Glen
Ridge, Morris Plains and Plainfi eld,
where JMF has completed upscale
apartment buildings adjacent to or
steps from transit. The fi rm, which has
built more than 5,000 housing units
across multiple product types, is also
behind transformative commercial
projects in corridors such as Route 440
in Bayonne and Route 10 in Hanover.
MJC Capital’s Michael Commorata,
who has partnered with JMF
Properties founder Joe Forgione,
called the Mahwah site “a spectacular
opportunity” with the potential to
create a ripple effect on Franklin
Turnpike, which for now is marked
by gas stations, used car lots, auto
repair shops, smoke shops and vacant
buildings.
“We’ve been the catalyst for similar
revitalization in other towns
throughout New Jersey, where
investments like ours sparked a
momentum of change, inspiring other
property owners to enhance their
properties, creating economic growth,
local amenities and vibrancy,” said
Commorata, managing member of
Mahwah Town Center Redevelopers
LLC.
“This is the opportunity to bring
lasting, positive change to the area —
creating a Franklin Turnpike corridor
that refl ects the suburban character of
Mahwah. It’s 2025, and this is the kind
of development people welcome —
the kind that tax-paying residents of
the community truly deserve. Mahwah
is a beautiful community; we are
committed to doing our part to make
this vision a reality.”
THE TIMELINE
It was early 2018 when MTCR agreed
to buy the redevelopment site, subject
to local approvals and all tenants
vacating their respective spaces,
proposing as many as 200 apartments
with a 15 percent set-aside for
affordable housing. The developers
made it known that they were open
to suggested changes, they said, but
noted that local offi cials declined
to hear a formal proposal until the
town fi nalized a settlement with the
nonprofi t Fair Share Housing Center.
That agreement, completed in spring
2018, reduced the density for MTCR’s
site to 14 units per acre or no more
than 49 residential units, which the
developers say was decided without