Looks like the owner of a former Morristown law office got the message.
Two years ago, the town council threatened to condemn three conjoined buildings at 2-10 Washington St.–empty since 2010 on one of the town’s choicest corners–if David Brown did not do something with his property.
On Thursday night, a prospective buyer presented plans to redevelop the former home of the Schenck Price law firm as a five-story brick structure with 53 apartments and 2,000 square feet of ground floor retail.
Video: A 3D view of the proposal:
Responding favorably to the pitch by representatives of Accurate Builders & Developers, the council voted 6-0 (Councilman David Silva was absent) to authorize Mayor Tim Dougherty’s administration to prepare a redevelopment plan. That document, anticipated within the next few weeks, will receive a planning board review before the council weighs in.
The mayor and council are waiting to see if another condemnation warning produces similar results.
Brown owns a stretch of vacant storefronts, including the former Century 21 department store, facing the historic Morristown Green on North Park Place. Sale talks between Brown and Accurate of Lakewood appear to have stalled.
Last month the council directed the planning board to study whether those properties also should be designated for redevelopment and, if necessary, condemnation. The board’s report should be ready this fall, town Planner Phil Abramson told the council, convened Thursday in its role as Morristown’s redevelopment authority.
Brown did not attend the session. Accurate President Jack Klugmann, who flew up from Miami a few hours earlier, declined to comment about the North Park Place negotiations.
Accurate’s projects include the Morris Marketplace strip mall in Morris Township, apartments planned for Newark’s former Bears Stadium, and developments in Little Falls, Bayonne and Fairfield, CT.
‘MONOLITHIC TEXTURE’
The apartments and retail proposed for the corner of Washington and Bank streets, diagonally opposite the Green, would retain a façade on Washington Street, for the lobby. Everything else from the existing buildings–dating back roughly 150 years and deemed blighted–would be demolished.
“It took 13 years to get here, but I think we’ll agree it was worth the wait,” project attorney Frank Vitolo told the council.
Video: From blighted to beautiful? Rendering of proposed transition:
Architect Dean Marchetto, designer of recent apartments on Market and DeHart streets, said the new project will seem smaller than its actual 16,243 square feet because of a recessed fifth floor, and because of the downward slope of Bank Street and special window treatments.
“I think it will fit very nicely with its neighbors,” Marchetto said.
The new design will accommodate larger sidewalks, the architect said. A 29-space underground garage is planned for the back, and 51 more spaces will be reserved in nearby Morristown Parking Authority facilities, according to Vitolo.
Eight apartments–15 percent of the total–will be earmarked as affordable, the lawyer said.
The architectural blueprint calls for 15 studios, 16 one-bedroom units and 22 two-bedroom apartments. But that mix is likely to change, to include some three-bedroom units, Vitolo said.
Studio sizes will measure around 530 square feet, one-bedroom units will be 739 square feet, and two-bedroom apartments will range from 1,000- to 1,200 square feet, Marchetto said.
While he liked the presentation, Councilman Robert Iannaccone suggested dividing the lots might be more visually appealing than creating one large structure.
“I don’t want the downtown to become a monolithic texture,” Iannaccone said, hinting at what may be coming to North Park Place.
Katharina Hellner-Apelt, a native of Germany, was the only Morristown resident to speak at the sparsely attended gathering.
She approves of the project design, yet harbors aesthetic concerns about other new developments, like the “horrible” Valley National Bank Headquarters on Speedwell Avenue. Morristown needs a more diverse blend of retailers and architectures, Hellner-Apelt asserted.
Abramson, the town planner, acknowledged such concerns. Overall, though, he sounded pleased with the proposal, a design feat he compared to a Rubik’s Cube.
“With what we have and the property that has been presented to us, this was a very good response to that,” he said.
Mayor Dougherty praised Marchetto as one of the nation’s finest architects, and thanked Klugmann for investing in the community.
Klugmann told the council he used to shop at Century 21, and was excited to return now to Morristown.
“We’re here to be here,” the developer said. “We’re not here today, to be gone tomorrow.”
If indeed the corner building (feed& grain; Henry Lam’s NY Tea Garden; Schenck, Price, Smith and King, esqs) is structurally unsound (as the Salny building was discovered to be during renovation/restoration) that needs to be considered. After the law firm’s 25 year lease ended and SPSK moved to Florham Park, all that remains of the feed and grain business priorly on site is a photo of the large white-painted advert on the brick of the Bank Street side, hawking its wares, presumably now in SPSK’s archives as Cliff Starrett recounted. Worth seeking out from the archivist in Florham Park for recalling Morristown’s past as the center of farming communities. Sheldon Bennett came here to farm on lower South Street after graduating from Cornell Ag. What dealt that typical plan out was that WWII occurred and “the government came and took all my men, leaving me with 200 cows,: said Bennett. Lest we forget.
mtwngirl – its not possible to add parking on every site for concentrated downtown areas, especially with these building height requirements. MPA, three years ago, should’ve built the 5 story garage behind the Grasshopper where all developments in that area would be able to purchase spots from for their parking requirements.
They were “accessing post-pandemic parking demand” and dragged their feet until costs to build it rose 20% from initial price.
How about actually providing adequate parking on site, its a balance to determine the yield of a property. Or some for sale products? The Town recently banned ‘stacked townhouses’ which I don’t really know what that means. The units facing Speedwell facing headquarters sell fast.
@ Eric – that’s the old lumberyard. Owner would have sold to a developer to build a $100 million dollar apartment building there if allowed to go 8 stories. Town listened to a small handful of people who live next door to it to deny the idea. Now the owner is being stubborn with it and awaiting the town to come around. Its a shame, that could’ve been a great site coming up into the downtown area.
Bank st/market st building, ground floor empty. M station, ground floor empty.
Joe, what new downtown buildings have empty retail space?
Eric, you do realize that Morris Street is not the only corridor into downtown, right?
Connor, good ideas there. Unfortunately the planners and decision-makers are small thinkers.
When is the town going to do something about the empty lot on the corner of Morris and Elm street. Such an eye sore and it’s the first thing you see when you get into town.
I don’t think its a bad spot for residential. I do wish they would allow the set back top portion to go up 3-4 stories totaling up to 8 stories or so. Would look really neat and preserve the ground level look.
They really need to allow the renovation of 55 South Park Pl to get a nice corporation in there as well. Can go 6-7 stories there overlooking the green and get a solid company with 2-300 people. To see it up for lease in its dilapidated state is such a waste. 0 “history” preserved by keeping that thing the way it is as well. And the parking argument – please.
Hopefully ground floor retail is included with the overpriced apartments so it can remain empty and unfilled like the other new buildings.
Residential seems like the best option for there. I think a hotel is perfect for the market/bank site and hopefully one comes to fruition there eventually
2-10 Washington Street building is in bad shape structurally and needs to be torn down. This will be a welcome addition, although a taller structure would be a better choice. And is a heavy emphasis on downtown residential really such a great idea? How about office buildings and retail?
I want to know about the next downtown hotel. That Cambria non-starter is a big disappointment.
Just please…no PILOT for this one. Given the snail’s pace of re-development of this property, we should only have to wait another 10+ year for them to do something with Century 21.
Sorry boys – there is a way to serve both ends – preserve the streetscape and redevelop the site. Like I said, it takes creativity, compromise and most importantly respect for the what came before us.
This happens all over the world and should have happened at Greystone. The tear it down and replace mentality is lazy and perpetuates the same action 20-30 year down the road when the property becomes outdated and out of fashion.
If you need a reference for this argument – walk around the block to Headquarters plaza
@William M Station is starting its 2nd building now, what are you talking about?
And this design looks great! Great use of the corner. Much better than a dilapidating structure
Not this again William. There is nothing “historic” about that building or its architecture besides being old. That needs to stop being considered the only requirement for being historic. The new design looks great on the lower levels and negates a block feel, and the recessed glass walls on the top floor add a modern touch.
Hope this gets approved and started soon. I wish they would consider making some of these buildings condos instead of apartments so people can start buying in the downtown rather than everything being rentals.
It’s a shame that the administration refuses to engage in a redevelopment plan that incorporates an adaptive Re-use plan.
Consistently opting, time and again for the path of least resistance that strips the town of its historical aesthetic and charm.
With unfinished projects(M-Station – granted a 12yr. Extension), the two empty development properties on Market st, the empty lot on Elm st. – it’s perplexing as to why this project needs to take place now and without this consideration.
Adaptive Re-use projects, around historical properties take place all over the world. And Morristown has no excuse not to engage in its own.
Does it require more planning, more compromise, more creativity and more compassion – yes. But, it will leave the town in a better place to showcase why Morristown has been a vibrant community for over 200 years.
Mayor Tim Dougherty the town has faith that you will step up and this 19th century building as the catalyst to usher in a new era of smart adaptive Re-use development, which preserves our historical fabric, while a updating and modernizing the towns streetscape.