West Orange Mayor Discusses Development, 'Burden Of Taxes'

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange construction code department issued more than 2,800 permits in 2019, an equivalent of more than 10 every workday. But how did the wave of new development in West Orange impact local taxpayers?

During his State of the Township address at the Wilshire Grand Hotel earlier this week, Mayor Robert Parisi highlighted some of the biggest development projects that took place in West Orange last year. (See the list below)

“As a community, as residents, we may not have a lot of impact on the factors that lead to a strong regional real estate market, but we certainly do enjoy it and the benefits that come from it as property values have continued to climb,” Parisi said.

The mayor said that redevelopment takes “many forms,” but each speaks to significant private investment in the community.

Likewise, each is an important step towards the town’s future, Parisi stated.

“All in, these redevelopment projects total more than $300 million in private investment in our community, increase annual revenues, provide housing options and provide a variety of amenities,” Parisi said.

He noted that recently approved redevelopment projects on Executive Drive – which received a PILOT agreement from the township despite vocal pushback from some residents – will provide a 75,000 square foot office building to house the new township library, a dog park, some “much-needed” senior citizen affordable housing units and 7,500 square feet of community space, while increasing the annual revenue these properties generate for the community… “all at no cost the West Orange taxpayers.”

• See related article: West Orange Council Greenlights Plan, PILOT For Executive Drive

Parisi then segued into a closely connected topic: local property taxes.

“Speaking of taxes, the sound of that may make us cringe,” Parisi said. “And it should. No taxpayers feel the burden of taxes, like local municipal taxpayers. But no form of government provides us greater services, on a daily basis, like local government.”

According to Parisi, 2019 presented the “biggest budgetary challenges” the township has faced since 2011.

“Despite significant reductions in staff over the last ten years, and related personnel costs, routine operational costs continue to rise, as they do for each of us in our own lives, and many of those fixed expenses peaked in 2019,” Parisi said. “But even with last year’s challenges, since 2010, West Orange has the second lowest municipal budget increase of all 22 Essex County towns, averaging just 1.6 percent per year over the last decade.”

• See related article: Proposed $769M Essex County Budget Would Mean Small Tax Increase

DEVELOPMENT IN WEST ORANGE

During the State of the Township on Wednesday, Mayor Parisi offered the following background about several recent redevelopment projects in West Orange. (Read his full speech)

EDISON LOFTS – “The Edison Lofts, Main Street redevelopment, is still the largest non-waterfront redevelopment project in the entire state. It now has over 220 of the 323 apartments in Phase I occupied and continues to fill more apartments each month. This often-maligned project has converted an original Thomas Edison factory building into a luxury apartment complex with the best of amenities and building materials and is filling apartments quicker than originally forecasted with monthly rents higher than projected. With Phase I moving toward completion, Phase II, fully approved, will begin construction in the coming months adding more new housing.”

CENTRAL AVENUE PROJECT – “The Central Avenue Redevelopment project, a joint Orange/West Orange project, continues its maddening pace toward completion. Replacing an entire block of contaminated properties that had been abandoned for more than 40 years. The first completed apartment building was quickly, fully occupied and the second building is nearing completion, barely a year after they originally broke ground. In the coming year, we will take the next step in the rebuilding of this neighborhood and finalize plans for the parcels of this project the township owns, adding additional housing and community parking to serve Luna Stage, the Arts Council and local businesses.”

OLD HOTEL – “In 2020, the old hotel on Northfield Avenue across from the arena, and the vacant restaurant space, vacant for more than a decade, will make way for the recently approved apartment building with 59 luxury units and 11 affordable housing units, providing walking access to local businesses and, more importantly, walking access to commuting options just across the street.”

ESSEX GREEN – “Essex Green Shopping Center, the geographic center of town, and one of the largest properties in town, will soon begin construction on the approved renovations, remodeling most of the existing buildings, improving access to the site, improving parking and adding 40,000 square feet of new retail spaces.”

EXECUTIVE DRIVE – “Adjacent to Essex Green, the Executive Drive property has been fully approved for redevelopment. This roughly 30 acres of land currently contains four nearly vacant office buildings. The approved project will maintain one building as office space, will demolish two others to make way for 361 market rate units and 64 affordable housing units. The fourth of these buildings, 10 Rooney Circle, will be deeded to the township at no cost. With the assistance and support of the Library Board, this building will become the new home to our library, providing larger spaces for public use as well as outdoor spaces and more parking. The Executive Drive redevelopment project will also provide two acres of land, the construction of a dog park and public parking for visitors to the park, also at no cost to the township. The existing library site, an approved redevelopment project, will be rebuilt to accommodate 61 affordable Senior Citizen housing units as well as seventy-five hundred square feet of community space to be used as a library annex and a community center. This project will provide one million dollars to be used in the relocation and build-out of the new library space. This $1 million, along with 1.5 million dollars in funding from the Executive Drive redevelopment project, will provide 2.5 million dollars in funding for the new library space, along with the building and land.”

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