MONTCLAIR, NJ — The wheels are still spinning on the long-awaited Lackawanna Plaza redevelopment plan in Montclair, but another big milestone was reached this week: the designation of a developer.
On Tuesday evening, the Montclair Town Council voted to approve a resolution that designated BPD Holdings LLC as the redeveloper for block 3213, lot 2 and block 4202, lots 4.01 and 4.02.
The resolution paves the way for the council to execute a redevelopment agreement with BPD Holdings on one of the highest-profile real estate projects Montclair has seen in decades – which is still facing multiple legal challenges. See Related: Déjà Vu In Montclair; Lackawanna Plaza Plan Returns To Town Council
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The council amended some of the conditions of the resolution before giving it a greenlight. The town now has 120 days to reach an agreement with BPD Holdings – not 60, as per the original resolution. A complete application for preliminary and final site plan approval is due by June 1, 2025.
If the parties can’t come to an agreement, either can void the designation.
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A representative for the redeveloper answered questions from town council members at Tuesday’s meeting, noting that there are “a lot of moving parts” to the proposal, but BPD Holdings hopes to have a site plan filed by the end of the year with traffic and environmental studies – although that goalpost may end up getting moved back.
“We’re trying,” she told the council.
Watch footage from the Sept. 24 meeting below (video is cued to the discussion and vote).
LACKAWANNA PLAZA: A BRIEF BACKGROUND
The debate over the fate of Lackawanna Plaza has been in the works for nearly a decade, and the project has seen several stumbling blocks along the way.
The Montclair Town Council voted to designate the site as an “area in need of redevelopment” in 2015.
For years, The Hampshire Companies and Pinnacle Companies tried to breathe new life into the site, which is home to a historic former train terminal. After getting approval from the Montclair Planning Board in 2019, the companies announced that a 216,772-square-foot, mixed-use project was in the works, including residential, retail and office spaces.
The project was expected to kick off later that year. But it hit a major roadblock when a group of local advocates launched a lawsuit to stop development, seeking to reverse the previous decision from the planning board and nix the project’s site approval – sending everything back to the drawing board.
In February 2021, a new owner, Montclair-based BDP Holdings, announced that it has acquired the 7.6-acre development site. Read More: New Owner, Old Concerns For Lackawanna Plaza In Montclair
A new version of the plan was advanced by the town council in December 2022, which has seen changes and challenges since then.
In the meanwhile, a debate over the fate of Lackawanna has been raging among the town’s residents.
Some people have insisted that there are key historic elements to the area that need to be preserved; the site was recently put on a list of the “10 Most Endangered Historic Places in New Jersey,” for example. Other concerns about the plan have included height and density, increased demand on local infrastructure and services, and potential traffic impacts.
But other Montclair residents have supported the overall plan, saying that a supermarket is desperately needed to replace the Pathmark that closed in 2015, leaving residents of the town’s 4th Ward without a grocery store. Some supporters have also pointed to the affordable housing that’s included – another much-needed commodity in the township – as well as the potential tax revenue the project could bring to the township.
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