The latest effort comes in South Orange, a suburb of both Newark and New York City, where two related projects are underway. The first is Gaslight Commons, a 200-apartment rental complex being developed by LCOR Inc. of Berwyn, PA. It will feature one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 770 to about 1,300 sf, with a variety of amenities. The project's four-story buildings will wrap around an interior courtyard.

LCOR's financial partners in the project are Key Bank and Kehman Brothers. LCOR is targeting upscale renters, according to VP Anthony Marchetta.

The second, and smaller, project is Church Street Commons, two 25-apartment buildings near this city's train station. A local partnership is doing the second project. Besides the residential uses, several downtown renewal projects are underway, including a rehab of the circa 1916 Sloane Street Station and adjacent commercial businesses.

Altogether, the effort to build transit-related mixed-use (primarily residential) projects around transit stations is working better than most people hoped. Besides South Orange, similar projects are under construction in Rutherford, Pleasantville (located in South Jersey, near Atlantic City), Morristown and South Amboy. Although it's not officially part of the transit village program, a similar project is being built in Matawan/Aberdeen, in Monmouth County.

Back in South Orange, the "transit village" project is actually part of a much larger downtown renewal effort, according to John Gross, administrator of South Orange. Other projects include a $10 million arts center to include at least five movie screens and a live theater auditorium, plus community facilities. Construction will begin shortly and completion is slated for the end of the year.