Acting as the local Alcohol Beverage Control Board, the South Orange Village Trustees transferred the liquor license formerly owned by Cryan’s Beef and Ale House to Landmark, the developer of a new restaurant and biergarten scheduled to open in the renovated Village Hall building next year.
The transfer took place during a recess of the Board of Trustees on Monday night, March 28, as the Trustees convened as the ABC to take the vote. The transfer passed unanimously.
South Orange Village Administrator Barry Lewis said that Landmark Developers is now finishing up its site plan application to submit to the South Orange Planning Board shortly. Once Planning Board approval has been obtained, the sale of the property will close and construction will begin, said Lewis.
In December, Landmark Developers announced that it intends to turn the ground floor of historic South Orange Village Hall into “Village Hall Restaurant” as well as an indoor-outdoor beer garden called “The Pump House.” Additionally, Landmark plans to operate a banquet hall and meeting rooms on the second floor.
Landmark received unanimous approval from the South Orange Village Board of Trustees for financial and redevelopment agreements for the sale of historic Village Hall in November 2015.
Landmark will pay $1.2 million for the property. Total costs for the construction, liquor license, purchase, landscaping, contingency, etc. will bring the project’s costs to about $6.5 million for Landmark.
For its trouble, Landmark will benefit from a 20-year payment in lieu of taxes — or PILOT — on the improvements to the property. Landmark will pay full land taxes on the property from the closing date.
According to a timeline presented to the Board of Trustees in November, the new facility should open in mid-2017.
