Officials in Paramus have approved a plan to bring 456 apartments to Bergen Town Center, Urban Edge Properties’ 1 million-square-foot retail destination just south of Route 4. — Rendering courtesy: Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners
By Joshua Burd
Urban Edge Properties is selling a piece of Bergen Town Center — its sprawling retail property in Paramus and Maywood — one that’s slated for redevelopment as more than 450 apartments.
The real estate investment trust announced last week that it was under contract to sell the parcel, which includes a freestanding retail building and surface parking, to a multifamily developer for $25 million. That paves the way for the prospective buyer, which it did not disclose but was identified by CoStar News as Russo Development, to move ahead with a long-discussed plan to bring some 456 rental homes to the 1 million-square-foot center just south of Route 4 as part of a growing national trend to diversify mall properties.
JLL’s Jose Cruz represented Urban Edge in the sale. It was among several highlights that the REIT’s executives discussed during its Feb. 12 earnings call.
“In terms of the residential sale, we created a lot of value by entitling that land for about 450 residential units,” CEO Jeff Olson said, according to a transcript of the call. “And we felt that the best way to monetize that value was to sell it to a local developer, and we will redeploy that capital in a 1031 (like-kind exchange) on an acquisition that we’ve already made.”
A project designed by Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners calls for razing the existing retail building on the east side of Bergen Town Center, allowing for a mix of apartments around amenity courtyards. The firm’s David Minno noted in 2023, following site plan approval by local officials, that the construction would enhance access and walkability for residents by creating a pedestrian path to the west side of the site that contains most of the retail space.
Olson said at the time that Urban Edge was mulling whether to sell the parcels to a multifamily developer or form a joint venture, noting that the buyer pool “is large and consists of some of the most reputable, multifamily developers in the region, because they all share our view that this site is one of the best residential development opportunities in Bergen County.” Russo, for its part, is one of the state’s most prolific apartment developers and has built thousands of units in the last decade alone.
Plans to revamp mall parcels with new apartments, public space taking shape across New Jersey
