The combination of transit-oriented development and increasing demand for walkable downtowns has created a perfect storm, with new communities enabling people to enjoy an urban lifestyle in suburban locations. One developer, Whippany-based JMF Properties, is positioned right at the intersection of these twin trends. Their new communities combine commuter convenience with the ability for residents to live, work, and play in the same neighborhoods.
JMF Properties has established itself as a leader in redevelopment efforts, with a flurry of activity in 2016. The company’s mixed-use projects are tailored to their unique surroundings, and play to each community’s character in order to draw new residents while staying true to the old as they revitalize municipalities along NJ Transit’s rail lines.
Here’s a look at a few of the transit-oriented projects that JMF Properties has underway.
- In Plainfield, Quin Sleepy Hollow will offer 212 rentals, starting in fall 2017. Residents can enjoy perks like a dog park, electric car charger, and bike share program in a prime location between the historic Netherwood train station and the Fanwood station.
- Within walking distance from the downtown Maplewood train station, Clarus Maplewood will offer hotel-style amenities to residents of 20 modern rentals perched atop 10,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail including merchants like Starbucks and a farm-to-table restaurant by Tom and Jennifer Carlin, the couple responsible for the Gladstone Tavern. Clarus Maplewood hopes to achieve WELL Certification through features designed to impact health and wellness.
- In Denville, JMF will soon announce the full lease-up of its Estling Village project, a 100-unit luxury rental apartment community with full amenities and a walking path to the New Jersey Transit station next door.
- JMF will break ground this winter on 150 rental units near the train station in Berkeley Heights, America’s sixth-best place to live according to Money magazine. Downtown’s shops and restaurants will be just a short walk away.
- Also coming soon is a major redevelopment in downtown Emerson, with 20,000 sq. ft. of retail on the street level and 147 residential units above. It will be located on Kinderkamack Road, the area’s first such project in years.
- Raritan is getting 284 luxury apartments. Residents will be able to walk to the train station and come home to a pool, fitness center, yoga and spin room, cinema, and electric car charging station.
- JMF was chosen by the city of Bayonne to redevelop 40 acres at Bayonne’s Military Ocean Terminal. The project is still in the planning phase but expect townhomes available for purchase along with a curated collection of retailers.
“People are looking for a lifestyle more than a place to live,” said JMF President and CEO Joseph Forgione. That’s why he describes the new developments as “over-amenitized,” as residents have direct access to much more than the community itself.
