Brick Church Commons is rising primarily on the site of the former Muir's Department Store, a local fixture that closed down more than two decades ago. The vacant building was subsequently subject to a suspicious fire in the late 1980s. RPM had to acquire the site, which includes several other existing buildings, from multiple owners, including the local parking authority.

The building currently under construction is a four-story asset that will contain 24 apartments on the upper three floors atop ground-level enclosed parking. Initial occupancy is anticipated by late spring, according to RPM officials.

Work on the second building is expected to be under way by the end of February, according to company officials. Similarly a four-story building with 24 apartments, it will differ from the initial building in that the ground floor will contain 12,000 sf of retail space and the parking component will be underground.

Construction on the third and largest of the three buildings is tied to the razing of existing on-site structures. The five-story building will have a total of 56 apartment units, according to the site plan, plus more than 25,000 sf of ground-floor retail space and underground parking. A 2005 build-out of Brick Church Commons, which takes its name from the section of this Essex County community, is anticipated.

The project is one of three that RPM has going on in the Downtown area. Last summer, the company cut the ribbon for its $17.3 million Dr. King Plaza, a 100-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail nearby. The company also expects to break ground early next year for Millennium Homes, an 18-unit townhouse project.

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