Residents have withdrawn a proposal to demolish Paterson’s former YWCA and replace it with 124 apartments after opposition. An effort to preserve part of the property as a community center also fell through.
The city’s October 26 Planning Board agenda confirmed the withdrawal, listing the application from Paragon Asset Management LLC as withdrawn. A September 15 letter from the developer’s attorney, Alan Mariconda, explained the decision.
Paragon had proposed four five-story apartment buildings at 179-183 Carroll Street, on a property that also extends along Van Houten and Ellison streets.
Before withdrawing the application, however, the developer explored a smaller project that would have allowed some housing to move forward while preserving the existing YWCA building for community use.
According to Mariconda’s letter, Paragon met with a group of concerned residents and discussed dividing the property in half.
Under that proposal, apartments would have been built on 50% of the site, while a neighboring church would have acquired the other half and renovated the former YWCA building into a community center.
The property owner declined the arrangement, according to Mariconda, and Paragon’s contract to purchase the site was “terminated by mutual agreement.”
Paragon then withdrew its development application.
The original proposal called for demolishing the existing structures on the approximately 45,200-square-foot property and constructing four residential buildings containing 32, 28, 28 and 36 apartments, respectively.
Of the 124 apartments, 108 would have been one-bedroom units and 16 would have been two-bedroom units. Each building would have included ground-floor parking, four floors of apartments, common areas and a rooftop terrace.
The developer also sought exceptions to several local development rules. The property falls within the RA-2 zone of Paterson’s Fourth Ward Redevelopment Plan, which generally permits buildings up to 3.5 stories. Paragon proposed five-story buildings and requested additional exceptions involving setbacks, building coverage and parking.
The project drew opposition from residents over the summer, with concerns about traffic, parking, overdevelopment and the neighborhood’s aging infrastructure.
More than 100 residents gathered at City Hall on August 19 for a Planning Board meeting where the proposal was expected to be discussed, according to Paterson Press. The meeting was canceled before the application could be heard.
Some residents wanted the former YWCA property used for recreational and educational programs rather than additional housing.
“We don’t need another 125 units on this particular corner,” resident David Gilmore told News 12 New Jersey in August. The development application called for 124 apartments.
Mayor Andre Sayegh said at the time that residents had a right to be heard and encouraged them to meet with the developer. He also said he had asked the developer to scale back the project and believed a compromise might be possible.
Those discussions eventually led to the proposal to divide the property between housing and a community center, according to the developer’s attorney.
But the arrangement never moved forward. With Paragon’s purchase agreement terminated, the developer withdrew its application.
No new proposal has been submitted for the former YWCA property, leaving the future uncertain.
