With projects such as One Theater Square completed, the first Shaq Tower nearing completion, and plans still underway for Riverfront Square, new and proposed developments in Downtown Newark have been gaining plenty of attention as of late. However, outside of the central business district in New Jersey’s largest city, there is an increasing number of residential and mixed-use developments on the table as well.
For instance, in Newark’s North Ward, not far from the Belleville border, a seven-story building was approved two years ago for 161 Bellair Place, while dozens of new homes have been completed over the last decade as part of the Enchanted Victorian Village at Forest Hill project.
Now, a new mixed-use development is being proposed for the neighborhood, according to a public notice. The anonymous LLC that owns 341-355 Montclair Avenue near Branch Brook Park is looking to subdivide the property into 341-347 and 349-355 Montclair Avenue in order to construct the proposed building on one of the news lots. While the eastern part of the premises would continue to contain a one-story building with a nail salon and supermarket, the currently undeveloped western part of the premises would be replaced with a four-story project.
If approved, the notice states that the new development by 341 Montclair, LLC would include commercial and retail space on the ground floor along with parking. The upper three floors would contain a total of 26 residential units.
The LLC reportedly acquired the property, which is situated at the edge of the city’s Forest Hill neighborhood not far from the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center at Branch Brook Park, in 2016 for $500,000. Located west of Bellair Place near where Montclair Avenue becomes Branch Brook Place, the premises are a roughly five-minute walk away from Park Elementary School and the Branch Brook Park Station on the Newark Light Rail.
The Newark Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled to hear the proposal during its meeting on Thursday, November 8, at 7:00 p.m. The developer is looking to obtain Preliminary and Final Site Plan approval for the project along with variances including minimum building transparency and insufficient side yard setback.
Note to readers: The dates that applications are scheduled to be heard by the Newark Zoning Board of Adjustment and other commissions are subject to change.
