Continuing with the trend of developing apartments near suburban rail stations in the Garden State, several adjacent properties that are situated directly across the street from a New Jersey Transit train stop in an Essex County township could soon contain a multi-family building.
The proposed development could be constructed at 4 Westinghouse Plaza and six neighboring tracts along MacArthur Avenue in Bloomfield, according to a public notice. If given the necessary approvals by the Bloomfield Planning Board during its meeting on Tuesday, May 7, at 7:00 p.m., the plan calls for the building to consist of 25 apartments. The notice does not state if retail space is planned for the building, which would be just a stone’s throw away from the stairwell leading to the outbound platform at the Montclair-Boonton Line’s Watsessing Avenue station.
The developer, L.P. MacArthur, LLC, has applied for Preliminary and Final Site Plan approval for this project. Filings from the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services show that the LLC was registered with the state in December out of the small Bergen County township of River Vale.
However, NJ Parcels records indicate that the properties are owned by firms called Arlington Bloomfield Associates, LLC and Arlington Bloomfield, LLC, though only the former company is listed in the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services database. Both firms were registered out of the same Edgewater address as Daibes Enterprises.
In addition to the train station, the site is also located across the street from a massive vacant lot that was once home to the Westinghouse Lamp Plant. NJ Parcels records show that the former Westinghouse property is also owned by Arlington Bloomfield, LLC while both sites were owned by the CBS Corporation until two years ago. Westinghouse evolved over the years into CBS, which is better known for its television properties.
Although the neighborhood surrounding the Watsessing Avenue station in southern Bloomfield has not seen as much development as Bloomfield Center has as of late, there have been projects like The Grove at One92 and the Parkway Lofts Apartments while 178 units are planned for Lawrence Street.
Note to readers: The dates that applications are scheduled to be heard by the Bloomfield Planning Board and other commissions are subject to change.
