Fanwood continues redevelopment of downtown, commercial corridor

FANWOOD - The longest-serving female mayor in New Jersey, Fanwood’s Colleen Mahr continues her borough’s quest to redevelop its downtown, as well as its South Avenue Commercial Corridor.

Two construction projects will complete the revitalization of Block 64, an entire block of shops and restaurants beneath or near dozens of residential units, the first-ever in the historic borough’s downtown. Meanwhile, a $802,000 federal transit grant will fund a new streetscape for South Avenue (Route 28) that will coincide with plans to redevelop the sites of the former A&P and adjacent properties, as well as Young’s Paint at Terrill Road and a nearby pizzeria.

“We did something over the last decade that people didn’t think ever would get done,” said Mahr, a Scotch Plains native who moved to neighboring Fanwood shortly before she was elected in 2004, while helping Jersey City redevelop as its director of Housing and Economic Development.

“We would never have gotten that highly competitive grant at that level of funding if they did not see that we could do it, that we deserved and that we had a track record,” the mayor continued. “It was one of the largest in our history.”

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The transit-oriented development of Block 64, nearly half of which is across South Avenue from Fanwood’s historic Victorian-styled train station, soon will feature:

• The $13 million Station Square at Fanwood developed by Woodbridge-based Landmark Companies on the corner of Second Street and La Grande Avenue with 35 townhouse-style rentals, seven of which are affordable housing units, all renting now for a spring opening.  
• 35 Second St., 2,900 square feet of first-floor retail beneath three residential units expected to be completed in December by longtime property owner Joseph Ponzio of Jobar Realty, whose family previously operated Dean Oil on the site.  

They complement new businesses and facade enhancements on Martine Avenue and a downtown cobblestone walkway and vibrant gathering place that connects South and La Grande avenues between the rear of those businesses and neighboring Fanwood Crossing Plaza. Also neighboring several South Avenue shops and residences developed by local entrepreneurs, Fanwood Crossing is a three-part development of retail and residential that makes up nearly half of the Block 64 revitalization project.

“We have really set the pace for what transit-oriented development can be in New Jersey,” Mahr said.

“And we know the value of investment,” added Elizabeth Jeffery, the borough’s director of economic development. “This is the thing that people have to understand: a property that maybe gave $20,000 in taxes now gives $300,000 in taxes. It’s very difficult to run towns today solely on the backs of the residents.

"If can you do things well, you can find new ways to generate growth and investment and create ratables to help support the services. That’s three new roads that are going to be paved or five rec programs. Every dollar of that gets disbursed across every household, and it’s a dollar that doesn’t have be raised from the people who are trying to raise their kids.”

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Coming to South Avenue

In 2016, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority allocated a $802,000 Congressionally-funded Transporation Alternative Programs grant to the borough of 7,4000 residents for forthcoming improvements to South Avenue. They will include new sidewalks, decorative lamps, street furniture, garbage receptacles and bike rentals, Mahr said. 

An engineer of the streetscape soon will be selected for what is expected to be an 18-month project, the mayor said.

“It’s going to be a home run as far as aesthetics, everything that will be really cool to connect the train station and Block 64 and then meet our neighbor in Plainfield,” she said.

“The commercial corridor is the growth area for the borough,” Jeffery added.

New zoning was put in place on South Avenue, which recently was declared an area in need of redevelopment so that existing business owners could receive tax incentives to improve their properties, Jeffery said. The zoning permits building up to 3 1/2 stories, she said.

In addition to the new streetscape, coming to South Avenue will be:

• Several residential units and a restaurant on the former site of the A&P, as well as adjacent sites to the west that were purchased by Green Brook-based developer CRC Communities.
• A three-story mixed-used development at the Young’s Paint site that will combine retail with about 24 units of residential.

Also, the site of Il Sogno Restaurant has been purchased, will be demolished and redeveloped by South Plainfield-based Porchetta Contracting, authorities said.

They will join new South Avenue businesses, such as Lightbridge Academy, K9 Resorts Daycare & Luxury Hotel, Houdini Pizza Laboratory, Sheelen’s Crossing Pub & Bistro, Fanwood Pharmacy, Fanwood Eye Care, Kessler Rehab, Joli Visage, Monk’s Home Improvements, The Shave Loft and Sheelen’s Fish Market.

Among the forthcoming South Avenue projects, only Empire Properties, the Hoboken-based developer of Young’s Paint, has submitted plans, but they have yet to go before the borough planning board, Jeffery said.

Other South Avenue properties may be targeted for higher and better use, Jeffery said. But the borough will continue to do so without the threat of eminent domain, Mahr added.

‘Place in people’s lives’

Shortly after Mahr was elected, the first borough development in 40 years began in 2005 with a redesign of the Dunkin Donuts across Martine Avenue from the train station. Mahr said the design met township specifications to be lasting and universal for future occupants should the location of the multinational quick service chain move.

Soon after, the award-winning Chelsea at Fanwood assisted living center, the Goddard School and Fonte Plaza, a Victorian-styled mixed-use of retail and residential, laid the groundwork for subsequent downtown plans, Mahr said.

“We get one bite at this apple to create this town of Fanwood, this commercial corridor, and it has to last well beyond me and even my kids,” the mayor said. “And we’ve been very fortunate that we have not gotten developers that hit and run. They’re either legacy pieces where they’ve been in the family and they keep it or they’re new to Fanwood, and they’re holding onto it as an investment.

"I’ve yet to experience someone who’s come into this town to flip a piece of property, and that’s really key because then they’re okay with using the higher standards, the amenities or more landscaping … It’s all those little things that add up.”

No strangers to economic development, Mahr and Jefferey worked together and separately to help foster the renaissance in and resurgence of Jersey City. Because of Mahr’s expertise, local Democrats felt she would be an ideal candidate, so she ran with downtown development as her core issue, and three years ago, hired Jeffery to help continue the vision of revitalization.  

During that time, the borough twice was recognized as a case study by Trenton-based New Jersey Redevelopment Authority for the downtown development of Block 64 and further plans along Route 28. The recognition of the downtown project was for completing it with community trust and developer support rather than eminent domain.

“Government has a place in people’s lives, and if you harvest that correctly, you can do great things,” said Mahr, the next president of the state League of Municipalities.

“You’re asking people to trust you, that you’re going to put quality things that are going to last through time in their town that they invested it, that they came to live in, and you’re putting things in that are going to make life better for all the residents,” Jeffery added.

For the South Avenue honor, which included other Union County towns along Route 28, the agency said, “The NJRA … recognized the successful transit-oriented developments in Plainfield, Fanwood and other towns in the Union County Route 28 sustainable corridor. These TODs are connecting the urban centers, suburban downtowns and neighborhoods in the county into a thriving sustainable regional economy. Each township working with their own assets, such as rail access and local zoning tools, has created investment successes that are driving each other’s economic development beyond their borders connecting and creating a strong economic corridor.

"Plainfield’s economic development efforts in Netherwoods TOD and the success of the revitalization of Fanwood’s downtown are driving economic growth and investment in the corridor connecting the town centers. They are enhancing each other’s attractiveness to investors and spurring on each other’s growth and prosperity. TODs encourage 24-hour live-work-play environments and critical pedestrian enhancements that are essential to downtowns and commercial corridors. Collaboration and common smart growth objectives make towns and the region stronger.”   

All for one

To further interconnect growth, Jeffery said she, Mahr and others representing Fanwood have been meeting regularly with the county and leaders of municipalities along the Route 28 corridor from Plainfield to Elizabeth.

Scotch Plains, Westfield, Garwood, Cranford, Roselle, Roselle Park, Rahway, Linden and Union also participate, Jeffery said.

“There’s so much that we can accomplish together,” she said. “We don’t really see ourselves competing. We see ourselves as one market. Who’s doing what with Bike Share? I can ride my bike over to your town and leave my bike there. Who’s doing what with parking apps? Let’s not frustrate the consumer. Let’s think about who wants to do parking apps and what parking app is most efficient. All kinds of things are happening. It’s like it’s one united community. It’s really great and very unusual.”

The success of Lightbridge Academy, K9 Resorts Daycare & Luxury Hotel and Houdini Pizza Laboratory on South Avenue has helped boost Plainfield businesses on the other side of Terrill Road, much like the economic impact Westfield and Cranford have had sandwiching Garwood along Route 28, Jeffery said.

In Fanwood, the South Avenue growth includes two mixed-use properties developed by local business owners. After about 30 years at Fanwood Clipper, owner Renato Marcovecchio became a developer and renovated his shop into a multi-use structure with retail on the first floor and two stories of residential above it. Similarly, Helen Lang, owner of Enchantments crafts for 29 years, recently built out with retail and up with residential.

Around the same time, Warren-based Elite Properties began to develop Fanwood Crossing I, a mixed-use of retail and residential at the corner of South and Martine avenues; Fanwood Crossing II, a larger mixed-use adjacent to the Marcovecchio and Lang buildings on South Avenue, and Fanwood Crossing III, which features 16 two-bedroom luxury rental units with private underground parking on the other side of Block 64 at LaGrand Avenue.

Most of the development is patterned after the 258-year-old town’s predominantly Victorian architecture, modeled not only by many single-family homes but also the historic train station. Whether by train, car or foot, the resulting shops, restaurants and events have helped make Fanwood a destination, Jeffery said. 

“If you don’t have people living and working in your downtown, you’re not going to have to have enough foot traffic to survive, so the mayor put forward the transit-oriented development notion – the great asset of this train – to work to leverage developers with the dollars to buy these bigger, vacant, underutilized, dilapidated structures – lots really is all they were – to make the housing and the retail,” Jeffery said. “Now Fanwood Crossing has zero vacancies in the residential or the retail.

“You have to have givebacks to your community, especially with something like creating a downtown,” she continued. “Great New Jersey downtowns are the hub of the community, not just a place to shop and dine anymore. Those days are over. The retail is happening in a click of a button. There’s more to a downtown than just what you’re going to go buy. It’s a place where you see your neighbors, have the pride of your community.”

Events include Saturday afternoon gatherings in Fanwood Crossing Plaza, a ladies’ night in downtown stores, a street fair and Fan Jam, an annual music festival that draws more than 6,000 to LaGrande Park, Jeffery said.  

The millennial-driven experiential component has helped to make the downtown a success, she said.

“People actually have heard of Fanwood now,” Mahr added.

Retail reaction

Two buildings are available for lease on Martine Avenue and one on South Avenue. Jeffery recommended them to entrepreneurs looking to open or expand in a growing market.

Local business operators also recommended Fanwood.

“Fanwood has the privilege of the train station, which brings young professionals to town,” said Lang.

“Good things are happening in the future here,” added Paul O’Loughlin, manager of nearby Railside Café.

Perhaps the greatest retail reaction to Fanwood’s growth has come from Frank’s Auto Body on Martine and LaGrande avenues.

The business nearly has completed a remodel that is in keeping with the town’s Victorian look.  

“When you have an auto body as a developer, you know you’re doing things right,” Jeffery said. “If you have an auto-body guy who wants to develop and keep with the quality … it’s beautiful. Investment and health inspire investment and health.”

The borough’s new businesses, which include Fanwood Grille, Rocko’s Ice Cream and Do Ewe Knit on Martine Avenue, have brought about 40 jobs to town, Jeffery said.

Nearly half of them have come from Lightbridge Academy, part of a chain of daycare centers that was opened in April on South Avenue near Terrill Road by a young borough couple who grew so tired of looking for good, affordable day care, they launched their own, Jeffery said.

“That’s not just investment, that’s job growth,” she said. “And they meet a community need.”

While development has delivered jobs, the residential end of about 130 units built thus far has brought only five new students to the local school district, Mahr said.

Most of the new residents are Millennials without school-age children, downsizing empty nesters, seniors and divorcees who stayed in town to be near their children, she said.

“These aren’t massive projects either that bring tons of kids into the schools,” Mahr said. “And we’ll roll in our affordable housing obligations into these projects. I expect that to be seamless.”

Staff Writer Bob Makin: 732-565-7319; bmakin@gannett.com