Considered one of New Jersey’s most dilapidated strip malls shall be demolished and reworked right into a mixed-use mission with tons of of residences.
Raritan Mall, a ten.88-acre property alongside Route 206 in Somerset County, was authorised for redevelopment by the borough’s planning board Wednesday night time.
The 6-2 vote ends years of stalled redevelopment efforts, together with earlier plans rejected by the Raritan Borough Council. Plans for the mall web site, which was constructed on a former landfill in a flood-prone space, have drawn continued pushback from residents over environmental dangers.
The newly authorised plans name for changing the growing older strip mall with a five-story, 70-foot-tall constructing with 276 rental residences. The advanced will embrace 42 reasonably priced items and about 20,000 sq. toes of ground-floor retail area.
Raritan Mall redevelopment rendering
A separate one-story constructing that when housed a financial institution will stay and be transformed for retail use, in line with plans submitted by the applicant, Raritan Mall City Renewal LLC.
The reasonably priced housing would assist fulfill the borough’s obligations underneath a state legislation that requires New Jersey municipalities to collectively add or rehabilitate greater than 146,000 reasonably priced items by 2035. Below the mandate, Raritan Borough is anticipated to contribute 99 reasonably priced housing items over the following decade.
Raritan Mall was as soon as a busy buying heart with not less than 15 storefronts, however the web site has been largely vacant since its anchor tenant, Cease & Store, closed in 2016. Constructed on a former landfill within the Nineteen Eighties, the property has since fallen into disrepair, with ongoing environmental and structural points worsened by repeated flooding.
Raritan strip mall
A preliminary 2022 redevelopment research performed by the borough described the strip mall as deserted and deteriorating, with vandalism, damaged glass, mould, uncovered nails and vital flood injury. Sidewalks are cracked, and overgrown weeds have taken over elements of the parking zone, the research stated.
Efforts to revive the location have confronted setbacks lately. In 2024, the borough council rejected a earlier proposal over issues about density, site visitors and general use.
The mission’s return additionally follows a $100 million lawsuit filed by the property proprietor after that rejection, alleging a battle of curiosity. The lawsuit was withdrawn in February 2025.
Drone captures extreme flooding from remnants of Hurricane Ida in Somerville and Raritan
Flooding stays one of many greatest fears. The strip mall sits in a flood-prone space close to the Raritan River, which provides ingesting water to hundreds of thousands of residents in Central Jersey via New Jersey American Water. Throughout Hurricane Ida in 2021, a lot of the location, together with the strip mall itself, was submerged by floodwaters.
At Wednesday’s assembly, neighborhood members once more voiced issues about this danger, particularly throughout demolition, and the potential for contamination to unfold to ingesting water.
“It is a unhealthy concept. It’s a flood space,” one resident stated through the listening to.
Builders beforehand testified they’ve secured a flood hazard allow from the state Division of Environmental Safety, permitting the mission to maneuver ahead.
Derek Forth, an lawyer representing the applicant, additionally acknowledged the issues concerning the web site Wednesday however stated the plan had already been vetted via a number of ranges of evaluate together with in court docket.
“I perceive the nervousness of the general public and the board,” he stated. “It is a crucial web site on the town. It’s positioned on a landfill in an space which has beforehand flooded.”
He added that the mission will assist the borough meet its reasonably priced housing necessities and the plans nonetheless want further approvals earlier than development begins.
“That is simply the primary begin,” Forth stated. “There’s a lot work finished after this.”
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