Frontier Flats at 171 East Front St. in Plainfield — Courtesy: Paramount Assets
By Joshua Burd
Paramount Assets has completed its transformation of a historic department store building in Plainfield, where it recently debuted 35 market-rate apartments and new retail space.
The Newark-based firm has already leased 60 percent of the homes at 171 East Front St., the site of Rosenbaum’s Department Store from 1927 to the mid-1980s, according to a news release. On Monday, the company welcomed local officials to celebrate its reopening as Frontier Flats, touting the addition of new housing and 26,000 square feet of retail space.
“Plainfield is in the midst of an incredible transformation, with new projects breathing life into our downtown district,” Plainfield Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said. “The opening of the Frontier Flats community marks yet another milestone in our collective pursuit of a dynamic, thriving downtown. Paramount Assets, our steadfast partner in this revitalization journey, has again demonstrated its commitment to our community.”
The developer noted that the building is one block from NJ Transit’s Plainfield station and offers its residents easy access to the Raritan Valley line to Newark and Manhattan. Residents are also within walking distance of a supermarket, banks and international food franchises.
Paramount began construction in February 2022, the news release said. The project included gutting the interior of the 55,000-square-foot property and redeveloping the structure, which now has an interior courtyard surrounded by eight of the apartments.
Its overall unit mix includes 12 studios, 18 one-bedrooms and five two-bedrooms, while the building has amenities such as a garden terrace, a fitness center and a tenant lounge. Some 18,000 square feet of the project’s 26,000-square-foot retail component is available and can be used as one large box for a single retailer or divided into smaller individual units.
“Frontier Flats is a perfect adaptive use project that benefits the city and the Central Business District of Plainfield,” said Richard Dunn, senior vice president of Paramount Assets. “It promotes living downtown, which is essential in a city’s revitalization. When you add residential apartments above and along a shopping district, it causes an economic boom and benefit for the community. We must give credit to Mayor Mapp and his administration for promoting and supporting this redevelopment project since it will not only benefit the small business owners but enhance the quality of life and shopper experience along East Front Street.”
Also on hand for the recent ribbon-cutting were Plainfield Council President Charles McRae and Director of Economic Development Zenobia Fields, as well as other Paramount executives.
