A proposal to develop an empty plot at the corner of Milford Avenue and West Bigelow Street in Newark’s South Ward took a step forward this week as the city’s planning board approved a final site plan for the project.
Members of the Newark Central Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the application for three three-story townhouses at 150-154 Milford Avenue during the board’s regular meeting on September 14.
All three townhouses will front Milford Avenue and include driveways. Each home includes a 500-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment with a laundry room and a one-car garage on the ground level.
The second and third stories of each townhouse will each consist of a 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom unit with its own laundry room and a single bathroom.
A staff report prepared in April states the façade fronting Milford Avenue will consist primarily of a gray brick exterior with a middle section of composite panel around the windows. The façade along West Bigelow Street will be primarily vinyl siding with a gray brick section at the center of the building.
According to the April report, the applicant, J&J Builders, requested 10 variances for insufficient lot area, setbacks, lot coverage, transparency, and parking, as well as two design waivers for the project. However, Jorge Fernandes, the project’s architect, clarified during the meeting that the applicant is willing to add additional windows to the eastern, northern, and southern sides of the building to comply with the city’s transparency requirements. He also clarified that the applicant will comply with the city’s ordinances for screening of mechanical systems and fencing materials, for which the applicant had initially sought relief.
Fernandes said the applicant will add two trees along West Bigelow Street and three trees along Milford Avenue.
While the applicant is not required to provide a time frame for commencing construction, the area around Malcolm X Shabazz High School has seen multiple development proposals over the years. Jersey Digs reported in May 2019 that the dilapidated four-story building at 446-450 Irvine Turner Boulevard, a few blocks west of the intersection of Milford Avenue and West Bigelow Street, sought to convert the building into 29 apartments with 25 parking spaces.
Jersey Digs reported in August 2020 that a limited liability firm, HK Auto Group, was also looking to convert the car dealership at 89-91 and 93 Elizabeth Avenue, just a few blocks north of the J&J Builders’ site, into a mixed-use building with 29 apartments and 2,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
