Construction is continuing on a new eight-unit development in Essex County that has been in the works for several years.
Jersey Digs first reported in 2018 about The Y Group, LLC’s plans for 14 Second Street close to South Orange’s central business district and main rail station. The building, which is now being branded as The Mignote on Second, is expected to consist of four simplexes and four duplexes. Thirteen parking spaces along with 700 square feet of ground-floor retail space are also in the works for the development, though an occupant of the retail space has yet to be announced.
The Y Group’s Yayine Melaku, who grew up in West Orange and graduated from South Orange’s Seton Hall University, told Jersey Digs in a phone interview that this project is expected to be completed this summer and that another development is envisioned nearby.
“I’ve become completely enamored by South Orange’s transformation and I’ve seen how it’s kind of transformed into this urban oasis in a suburban setting,” said Melaku.
It has not yet been determined whether the eight units in The Mignote on Second will be rentals or condominiums, but should the units be listed for sale, some could potentially be priced higher than most existing single-family houses in the village. Melaku stated that the simplex units could be priced around $750,000 while the duplex units could cost around $1.5 million. Only one property in the municipality, a seven-bedroom house in the Newstead neighborhood offering skyline views, is currently listed for sale above $1.5 million.
”We’ve tried to make sure that this was a building like no other in South Orange,” said Melaku, who likened the units at The Mignote on Second to high-end apartments in Hoboken.
The Y Group acquired the property in 2012 for $250,000. The site previously contained a house and sits next door to a building that used to contain branches of Wells Fargo and Wachovia. This adjacent property, which also includes two parking areas, was reportedly sold in November for $1.9 million to 8 Second Street, LLC, a firm registered out of an office building in Union.
