Chatham Council Switches Redevelopers In Post Office Plaza Renovation

CHATHAM, NJ — Chatham Borough officials called a special meeting to discuss the Post Office Plaza development before unanimously passing a resolution to change the project's planned redeveloper.

During the meeting on Wednesday evening, Mayor Thaddeus Kobylarz named Bergen County United Way as the new redeveloper for Post Office Plaza, replacing the previously named Nouvelle LLC.

The decision was made ahead of a June 24 court hearing on the Affordable Housing Compliance/Redeveloper Intervention request after SV Chatham PO LLC, whose plan was not chosen by the Borough of Chatham Council, filed a brief in Morris County Superior Court requesting an intervention.

According to the brief, "SV Chatham PO JV LLC, is the owner of property in Chatham that is part of the Post Office Plaza Redevelopment Area. SV has been the designated redeveloper of the Post Office Plaza Redevelopment Area since 2019."

Judge Michael C. Gaus of the Superior Court of Morris County will hear the intervention request on Friday, June 24.

On Wednesday, the council voted unanimously to "rescind" Nouvelle's designation and designate Bergen County United Way as the "substitute" for the Post Office Plaza redevelopment plan. The future development, according to the council, will be 15-unit, single-building affordable housing on borough-owned land at the southeast corner of Post Office Plaza along Bowers Lane.

During the public comment period, residents complained about the borough's lack of transparency throughout every step of the redevelopment project.

"I am hesitant to, at this point, get into too many further details… There will be an appropriate time and place to potentially have further discussions and disclosures and that decision is best made in consultation with our expert affordable housing attorney and our redevelopment attorney," said Steven Kleinman the Chatham Borough attorney.