$130M Mixed-Use Set for Construction

EAST ORANGE, NJ-Two long-vacant office buildings are currently being demolished on 2.1 acres near the NJ Transit Brick Church Station, and the plan is to replace them with a transit-oriented mixed-use complex. As reported by GlobeSt.com, the $130-million project was announced this past fall.

Actual construction for Evergreen Crossing is slated to begin shortly by developer Evergreen-Halstead Associates. That group is a partnership of BTR Capital and the New York City-based Saddle River Associates.

“Evergreen will help revitalize East Orange by creating a live-work destination in a central site,” says Josh Porter, managing director in BTR’s Iselin, NJ office.

The site, formerly owned by the city but acquired in 2007 by Evergreen-Halstead for a reported $1.4 million, is bordered by I-280, Evergreen Place, Halstead Street and Freeway Drive East. The development plan calls for 300,000 sf of commercial space, 200,000 of that being retail and the rest offices; 90 residential condos; a 140-room hotel and a 1,500-car parking structure.

And CB Richard Ellis has been hired to find tenants for the retail portion of the project. First VP Daniel Geller and SVP Richard Schulz are heading the exclusive assignment.

“Evergreen is designed to be the epicenter of the city’s revitalization,” Geller says. “There are more than one million consumers within a 10-minute drive, and as a whole East Orange is underserved with quality retail space.” Asking rent on CBRE’s website for the retail space is currently listed as “negotiable.”