WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange Township Council decided it was necessary to acquire the redevelopment property on Main Street that is owned by Prism Capital Partners with a resolution and an ordinance on first reading at its July 13 meeting; this would turn phases 2 and 3 over to the town to decide how to move forward with its downtown redevelopment plan. Both passed unanimously; the resolution authorized Chief Financial Officer John Gross to hire an appraiser for the property, and the ordinance is for a bond not to exceed $13 million to acquire the property.
“I’m happy that the administration and the council are in agreement that we need to take it back so we can decide on our own vision for downtown West Orange,” Council President Cindy Matute-Brown said in a phone interview with the West Orange Chronicle on July 26.
It’s not clear yet what the next steps will be; Matute-Brown said the administration has been in negotiations with Prism that she can’t comment on publicly. The town issued a notice of default to Prism on May 25. If approved by the council, the acquisition would include phases 2 and 3 of the project and not the completed first phase. The first phase was the building of Edison Lofts, which Matute-Brown said is doing better than expected with a 91-percent occupancy rate.
“They’ve had their plans approved for quite some time now and done nothing,” she said. “We deserve better, so we need to move on.”
Mayor Robert Parisi said at the meeting that buying the property is a big ask of the council, but that the history of the downtown area of West Orange cannot be ignored.
“I don’t think anyone is completely happy with where the project and the zone has gone in its entirety, but we’re not talking about Phase 1,” Parisi said, adding that the project went through years of litigation before the state Supreme Court ruled that Prism could move ahead.
But the developer has not moved forward with the plans for the second phase of the project, despite having approved plans and a financial agreement for what were the Barton Press and Department of Public Works properties.
“This is probably the hottest real estate market in all of our lives, and yet, despite some approvals they have, despite final approvals they have on parcels on Babcock (Place), it just hasn’t been able to get going,” Parisi said, also saying that the 200 residential units that were to be built on the property are no longer what best serves the community.
“It was approved in good faith with years of public debate and open forums, but we probably all agree that it’s not what’s in our best interest and not consistent with the vision we all share for the downtown,” he said. “This simply gets us to the next phase of the discussion. We think it’s time to move in a different direction for Phase 2.”
Parisi said continuing to wait out the project and work with Prism is not going to change the circumstances, and that it is time to take action in a different direction with a partnership that will be successful downtown.
Responding to comments from the public about transparency and the process of acquiring the property, Councilman Bill Rutherford said there will be more public discussion on the matter.
“We hear you loud and clear,” he said at the meeting. “There is a process and protocol for how we speak about these things. But certainly, you will know all you need to know and have plenty of opportunity to weigh in at the proper time.”
There is not yet a timeline for when the property will be acquired, if acquisition is approved by the council. The second reading of the bond ordinance is not on the agenda for the Aug. 17 meeting.
“I know there is concern that we’re bailing Prism out,” Matute-Brown said. “We are not bailing them out. It’s an opportunity for us to control our own destiny and vision for West Orange.”
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