Page 20 - RE-NJ

18 APRIL 2025
Mahwah Town Center Redevelopers LLC has assembled nearly 3.8 acres at the Mahwah
train station, envisioning a mixed-use project that could serve as a gateway to the mile-
long Franklin Turnpike corridor to the New York state line.
their input and was too small to be
economically viable. Discussions
with the township ensued, and when
those talks reached an impasse,
MTCR agreed in 2020 to sell the
property to senior housing developer
Monarch Communities, subject
to approvals and permits to build
a senior housing facility with 175
congregate, assisted and memory
care units.
According to published reports,
Monarch spent much of the next
three years trying to secure zoning
for the project. That included more
than 15 hearings, resulting in a
settlement with the governing body
that called for fewer units. But the
plan also faced a challenge from the
Fair Share Housing Center over the
lack of affordable housing, despite
the site’s inclusion in the 2018
agreement with the organization.
Monarch pulled out of the project
in 2023 amid fi nancial pressures
that had been dogging the company.
MTCR stepped in to try to salvage
the senior housing concept but could
not fi nd a new operator due to what
it said was a softening market. The
developer, which took full control of
the properties in February 2024, then
turned its focus back to a mixed-use,
town center-style project that would
satisfy the adopted redevelopment
plan.
THE LAST 12 MONTHS
MTCR met with Mahwah township
offi cials last March for court-ordered
mediation. While the developer says
state law prohibits it from revealing
details of discussions, it notes that it
“presented multiple proposals with
varying densities and product types in
an effort to reach a resolution.” The
parties did not reach an agreement,
while MTCR lamented “signifi cant
misrepresentations” by offi cials that
“did not accurately or honestly refl ect
what transpired,” specifi cally with
respect to the density that the property
owner was seeking.
It was around that time that the
township council authorized its
planning board to investigate whether
the site qualifi ed as a condemnation
redevelopment area, despite having
declared it two years earlier as a
non-condemnation redevelopment
area. Offi cials would schedule a
hearing on the matter for July 29,
2024, according to the complaint,
but attorneys say MTCR was not
given access to the municipality’s
preliminary investigation report before
the meeting date.
The hearing was adjourned, at
fi rst without a new date and later
scheduled for Nov. 4, attorneys said.
The township eventually provided
MTCR with a copy of the report, but
the document allegedly contained
errors about the property’s ownership
and boundaries.
Days earlier, the state Department
of Community Affairs released
nonbinding guidance on each New
Jersey town’s obligation under
the so-called fourth round of the
Fair Housing Act, which governing
bodies would have to adopt by Jan.
31 or provide their own alternative
calculations. An attorney for MTCR
sent a letter to Mahwah’s municipal
clerk, touting the Franklin Turnpike
site as an ideal solution for addressing
part of the town’s 629-unit obligation,
while noting the potential for so-called
bonus credits due to its proximity to
mass transit and the adaptive reuse of
commercial property.
The letter from Peter M. Flannery
of Bisgaer Hoff LLC noted that the
developer would a require higher
density to make it economically
feasible. Still, it said “MTCR is not
looking to overdevelop the Property,
and it is open to considering
alternative development options that
are well-planned and balanced, and
that will assist Mahwah in satisfying
its prospective need obligation.” The
township did not respond, according
to the development team.
THE CONDEMNATION DEBATE
MTCR and its representatives were
on hand for the Nov. 4 planning board
hearing, when the township planner
presented her report on the potential
for a condemnation redevelopment
area. She noted several areas of
concern such as damage to the
steps at the former U.S. Post Offi ce
building on Ramapo Avenue, as well
as peeling paint at one of the shuttered
commercial buildings, according to
the complaint. Yet MTCR’s attorneys
say the items were tied to formal
code violations that were issued and
addressed years before they took
control of the property, starting in
2010. The complaint also takes issue
with the report’s reliance on outdated
“Notice of Unsafe Structure” warnings
that were issued to prior property
owners — some from as much as 16
years ago — without verifying the
buildings’ current condition.
Other violations such as an unsafe
guardrail and damaged handicap
ramp, which were found during a May
2024 inspection and cited in a set of
July summonses, just weeks before
the initial hearing was scheduled,
were addressed by MTCR within two
weeks, according to the complaint.
The property owner said it sought to
address a third violation, a damaged
retaining wall, but the town engineer
did not respond to multiple requests
for approval of the repairs over the
next three weeks. It then submitted
an engineering report with structural
sketches and a Professional Review
Soil Movement Permit Application, as
requested by the town engineer, but
the township allegedly did not act on
the application by the time of the Nov.
4 planning board meeting.
According to NorthJersey.com, Mayor
James Wysocki chastised MTCR at the
meeting for dragging its feet on the
repairs, telling Commorata, “Once we
mentioned condemnation, you fi x all
the violations. That’s what’s amazing.
So don’t sit here and tell me you don’t
know if there were summonses.”
Among other objections, MTCR
attorneys say the town’s study fell far
short of the constitutional threshold
for blight. There is no evidence that
the buildings are unsafe, unsanitary,
dilapidated or obsolescent, they argue,
noting that the report’s author did not
inspect any of the interiors.
The complaint also notes that the
only evidence in support of the
“blight” designation was that certain
buildings had been vacant for more
than two years, but the lawyers say
it would be unconstitutional for
that to be the sole basis for the use
of eminent domain. What’s more,
the plaintiffs allege, the township
planning board and council “ignored
the uncontested testimony and
evidence that the property is ‘likely
to be corrected or ameliorated
by private effort’” — referencing
comments by MTCR’s planner —
given the developer’s efforts since
2018.
“The property owner assembled
the block and is in the process of
redeveloping the site consistent with
market demand
and therefore
questions
whether the
Township has
a valid public
purpose for
the recent
Joseph W. Grather
condemnation
designation,”
Grather, the MTCR attorney, told
media outlets last fall. “The only
purpose would appear to be an
attempt to prevent redevelopment
of an excellent property and
thwart private efforts to revitalize a
downtown area directly across the
street from the train station.”
The complaint notes that the Nov. 4
planning board hearing concluded
with a motion to adopt a pre-drafted
resolution that was circulated and
adopted that night, which could not
or did not cite or credit the witness
testimony or exhibits offered by
MTCR. The township council voted
three days later to designate the site as
a condemnation redevelopment area.
Mahwah Town Center Redevelopers
LLC formally challenged the
designation in a complaint filed
Dec. 18. Superior Court Judge
Gregg A. Padovano, sitting in
Hackensack, has scheduled the
next pretrial case management
conference for June 24. RE