$50M luxury apartment complex to rise in Plainfield

A 212-unit luxury apartment complex that officials hope will rejuvenate a main corridor in the city is officially ready for construction.

The $50 million project, set to rise on 1400 South Avenue, will be the city's largest residential building and continues a trend of development around its two train stations.

"I have watched the city reinvent itself over and over again," Union County Sheriff Joseph Cryan said Saturday at a groundbreaking. "This is another milestone."

The complex, half a mile from the Netherwood train station, is being marketed toward young professionals and empty nesters looking for an amenities-heavy building.

Plans include a billiards room, a theater, a yoga studio, outdoor grills and a dog park, among other features. The development will also have a bike sharing program and an electric car charging station.

The one- and two-bedroom apartments will range from 900 to 1,200 square feet and feature stainless steel appliances, vinyl wood flooring and quartz countertops. Pricing has not yet been determined.

The project, slated for completion in the winter of 2018-19, continues the city's attempt to tap into a nationwide trend of transit-oriented development. A five-story, mixed-use building is planned for the North Avenue Side of the Netherwood station, Mayor Adrian Mapp said after Saturday's ceremony.

Seidler Field, located across the street from the station, is undergoing a $1.75 million renovation, and there are plans to improve Plainwood Square Park, Mapp said.

He said he hopes the upcoming South Avenue apartment complex will attract small businesses like The Coffee Box, an upscale coffee shop across the street from the construction site.

"This investment of $50 million is the kind of development that suggests to others that there are opportunities here in Plainfield," Mapp said.

Councilman Cory Storch, of the Second Ward, said in his 40 years living in Plainfield, he has often heard talk of projects that never came to fruition. Now, he said, development is planned across the city.

"We have finally gotten to the point where Plainfield is in action," he said.

 

Source: NJ.com