Development in Dover: 90 rental units going up on Route 46

Construction is underway for a new "luxury" residential development on Route 46 in Dover that will bring 90 new rental units into the town.

Joint venture partners CrownPoint and Crossroads Companies are developing the .74-acre site with hopes of opening next year. The Town Council cleared the way for the deal in 2019 by declaring the property as an area in need of redevelopment. It later adopted a redevelopment plan in 2021 that permitted residential construction in a commercial zone.

Nine of the units will qualify as affordable housing that will count towards Dover's state-mandated affordable-housing construction quota. The rest will sell as market-rate "luxury" units, according to the developers.

The site was previously occupied for a few years by Hibachi Kitchen after functioning as the Attilio's Tavern sports bar and restaurant for several years. The building has now been unoccupied "for several years," according to the redevelopment plan.

Six stories plus rooftop deck

The new six-story building will include 5,000 square feet of "interior and exterior amenity spaces," including two stories of structured parking (117 spaces) below four stories of apartments and a rooftop deck, which the developers say is a first for Dover.

The developer has not listed additional specifics of the units and options. A note on their website says "More details soon."

'PILOT'-primed deal

The town in 2022 also granted the developers a "PILOT" program - or payment in lieu of taxes - that replaces conventional property taxes with a discounted payment plan. PILOTs have become a controversial topic in some towns, including Parsippany , with critics saying the plans cut school districts and local fire companies out of the line of direct tax revenue.

PILOT proponents, including Dover Mayor James Dodd, claim they are necessary and effective tools to entice developers to transform vacant or abandoned properties into revenue-generating entities for the town.

"I think PILOTs are the only way do development now," Dodd said at a January council meeting while discussing another residential project on Blackwell Street. "There has to be a benefit for the municipality and the developer as well. It has to be a win-win for both."

PILOT programs given out over the past few years also typically include a provision to rent 10% of the new units as affordable housing to help satisfy a given town's state-mandated responsibility to build more affordable housing.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Development in Dover: 90 rental units going up on Route 46