The South Orange Village Council on Monday cleared the way for a long-awaited major redevelopment project on Irvington Avenue to begin, by passing a resolution on Monday designating the new redeveloper for the project.
The project, at 270 – 299 Irvington Avenue, consists of three mixed-use buildings with ground-floor retail space and a total of 61 residential units, 12 of which will be designated as affordable housing, along with required parking both underground at street level.
The initial planning began several years ago with four iterations of design and neighbor input. The project’s delay was, in part, because the former property owner and developer, Saiyd Nagim, died in 2023, and, because it was his vision to use the project to revitalize the area, his family and the Village wanted any new developer to use the approved project plans.
“So there has been a gap period of time of wanting to attract a developer to purchase, not just the land, but the plans of what was already approved, so that we’re not starting from scratch, which is lovely, and this is the legal process forward,” Mayor Sheena Collum said at the Village Council meeting on Monday, July 13.
Collum said the new redeveloper, 270 Irvington LLC, is not only on board with the plans approved by the Planning Board but also “very community-centric.”
The property at 270-274 Irvington Avenue that will be redeveloped. (Photo by Laura Griffin)
“It’s great when we have community partners who see themselves as not just developers, but people making long-term investments and wanting to get to know the people of the neighborhood better,” Collum said.
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What is approved for the 2.2-acre site at 270 Irvington Avenue is a four-story mixed-used building with 41 resident units and 14,000 square feet of commercial and amenity space. There is also what is being called a “garden house” which will be three stories with eight residential units and 4,000 square feet of residential amenity and commercial space.
“This is particularly important,” Collum said, “because the developers, along with the Village council, worked with the neighbors to have and preserve a really robust garden area in the back — an open space.”
Diagonally across the street at 299 Irvington, will be three-story building with 12 residential units and 2,400-square-feet of ground-floor retail space.
Collum noted some “larger, higher-level project highlights,” namely, that the project is 20% affordable housing on site, as per the Village’s fair share housing plan and state requirements.
Collum also said there will be 127 parking spaces — underground and surface — and parking will include spots for electric vehicles and 30 bicycles.
Collum said the project was “designed very collaboratively” with the residents of the area, including Council Members Summer Jones and Olivia Lewis-Chang, both of whom wanted to ensure that there is transparency with the community and that a timeline will be created and made public.
After the 270 Irvington LLC submits a permit application, there will be a pre-construction meeting and a project timetable will be issued, and Collum said there would be a community meeting “probably in September” so that neighbors and anyone else interested can meet the new developers.
“[The developers] wanted feedback on the retail offerings, things that would augment the needs of Seton Village and are really working hand in hand, which is why they were very excited to hear that we wanted to do a community meeting.”
Before the unanimous vote on the resolution designating the 270 Irvington LLC as the new redeveloper, Jones said, “I’m just really excited for this to happen. I do live in Seton Village. I drive up Irvington Avenue all the time, and I look over wistfully, and I’m sure all the residents feel the same way, so just know that you’re a council person feels exactly how you feel. Can’t wait. I’m excited.”
Lewis-Chang added, ”I have to second that, I think we’re both very excited. It’s a long time coming, and it’s good to see it moving along.”
As far as a timeline goes, Collum said, “I don’t want to make any promises, but this is definitely, in my mind, probably close to an 18-month project, maybe a little bit more, but we’ll see. That’s, again, just my back of the napkin, so this is a big investment that’s going to be coming to Irvington Avenue.”
An artist’s rendering of 270-274 Irvington Avenue
