New Jersey Cheat Sheet: Montclair megamansion proposal withdrawn, Morristown luxury community hits the market… & more

Montclair megamansion proposal withdrawn ‘without prejudice’
A bid to build a 60,000-square-foot megamansion in Montclair was abruptly withdrawn from review on April 19, according to NorthJersey.com. Turkish billionaire Melih Abdulhayoglu, founder of internet security company Comodo, reportedly planned to erect the monstrous home on a pair of properties adjacent to the Eagle Rock reservation in Essex County. If approved, the edifice would have included a bowling alley, billiard room, movie theater, two elevators, indoor and outdoor pools, a gym, spa and an 11-car garage. NorthJersey.com previously noted that the site of Abdulhayoglu’s proposed palace required the purchase of two separate homes on six acres in Montclair that were both razed in February. The outlet reported that local residents had voiced dissension over the destruction when the pair of properties — a Civil War-era home at 14 Undercliff Road that sold for $3.88 million in January 2018 and a 1907 seven-bedroom mansion at 172 Lloyd Road that traded for $3.4 million last July — were leveled before scheduled meetings with historic preservation and zoning officials. By pulling his application “without prejudice,” NorthJersey.com noted that Abdulhayoglu can resubmit it at any time. [NorthJersey.com]

Cushman & Wakefield to market Morristown luxury community
PGIM Real Estate, a unit of Prudential Financial, is expected to raise up to $110 million from the sale of The Highlands apartment complex near the Morristown Station, according to Real Estate Alert. The six-story building at 10 Lafayette Avenue is being marketed by Cushman & Wakefield, the outlet reported, noting that it would fetch about $110 million. The 217-unit rental property, located immediately adjacent to the Morristown train station, is composed of one and two-bedroom units that rent for between $2,119 and $4,515 per month. A joint venture between Woodmont Properties and Roseland Residential Trust developed The Highlands a decade ago for $75 million on behalf of PGIM, according to a story at the time from NJ.com. The complex includes 8,000 square feet of fully leased retail and a 740-car parking garage. Real Estate Alert noted that the residential portion of the property is 97 percent leased. PGIM, as reported by The Real Deal, recently bought two self-storage properties in New York City from LSC Development for $114.2 million. [Real Estate Alert]

Kushner Companies to open Long Branch resort next month
Memorial Day weekend will market the opening of Kushner Companies’ Wave Resort at Pier Village, according to the Asbury Park Press. The newspaper and several other outlets noted that the $283 million addition to the New York-based developer’s existing footprint in Long Branch is slated to open May 27. The developer added a six-story, 67-room hotel at 50 Chelsea Avenue, immediately adjacent to its Pier Village ever-growing footprint. As previously noted by The Real Deal, Pier Village is a 492-unit resort with 90,000 square feet of retail space initially developed by Jersey City-based Ironstate Development. Kushner Companies bought the property for $200 million in 2014. Through a partnership with New York-based Extell Development, 269 condominiums, 40,000 square feet of retail space and the Wave Resort will be added to Pier Village. NJBIZ reported last summer that Kushner Companies also purchased two single-family homes adjacent to Pier Village for a collective $4.5 million. The company, which owns roughly 20,000 multifamily units, paid $1.1 billion earlier this year to acquire a 6,000-unit portfolio in Maryland and Virginia. [Asbury Park Press]

Investors double down in Jersey City’s Journal Square
Gaia Real Estate is set to move on a partial repositioning of its 300,000-square-foot office asset at 2 Journal Square, Real Estate NJ reported last week. Lead designer HLW has been tapped to reconfigure the office complex to add street-level retail and restaurant space. The new plans call for 30,000 square feet of retail space and redesigned lobbies at the property, as well as an updated chrome and glass facade, an exterior terrace and glass-walled stores. According to JerseyDigs, the existing Chase Bank will remain on the first floor on the building as two separate retail storefronts are are added. Rutherford-based retail broker RKF is handling leasing for the conversion. Meanwhile, fellow brokerage HFF last week completed the sale of a roughly half-acre site at 175 Sip Avenue in Jersey City’s Journal Square neighborhood. The property, as noted by NJ.com, was once home to the VIP Diner, where an episode of “The Sopranos” was filmed in 2006. Real Estate NJ reported that the site has been earmarked for redevelopment that could include a residential high-rise of up to 25 stories. Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, although exact terms of the deal were undisclosed. [RealEstateNJ]

Industrious co-working space heading to the Mall at Short Hills
New York-based flexible workspace firm Industrious has teamed up with Taubman Properties on a co-working space in the Mall at Short Hills, NorthJersey.com reported last week. Industrious, which is will offer a mixture of office and co-working space, is set to open its first New Jersey location later this year after taking over a 30,000-square-foot space previously occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue. The venture is not the first foray into the mall market by Industrious, which last year partnered with retail giant Macerich to set up a co-working space at a mall in Scottsdale, Arizona. As for New Jersey, the Garden State has recently seen several co-working ventures flourish. WorkSocial, a Jersey City-based co-working firm, announced earlier this month a $30 million valuation after securing an investment from a U.K.-based private equity firm that will allow it to open three new locations. Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood is also poised to welcome co-working outfit 3rd Space to the recently completed Textile Lofts building in the city. [TRD]

Parsippany redevelopment moves forward with extra retail space
The District at 15fifteen is poised to add 100,000 square feet of retail and 441 apartments to downtown Parsippany, Patch reported this week. Ohio-based Stanbery Development and Far Hills-based Claremont Companies will begin demolition of the existing buildings along Route 10, between I-287 and Route 202. The Morristown Daily Record reported in September on the township’s approval of the mixed-use development. The project will be developed at the former offices of Dialogic and Intel and located directly across the from Hilton Parsippany hotel and a number of office assets owned by Jersey City-based Mack-Cali Realty. Changes in demand for suburban office campuses have left Parsippany, home to 14 million square feet of available inventory, with a vacancy rate of 27.7 percent, according to research from CBRE. Chain Store Age, a retail trade publication, recently reported that more than 146,000 people with an average household income in excess of $161,000 live within five miles of downtown Parsippany. The New York Times noted this week that the township is the most populous in Morris County. [Patch]

Senior living facility breaks ground near Wyckoff, Hawthorne
The towns of Wyckoff and Hawthorne are set to welcome 199 senior living units by 2020 as part of the Christian Health Care Center that broke ground last week, according to NorthJersey.com. First proposed back in 2009 as a 258-unit complex, the so-called Vista project is set on 19 acres. The Christian Health Center said that nearly 200 active seniors had signed a leasing agreement by the time the facility broke ground on April 9. NorthJersey.com reported the project is now part of a 78-acre development site, with 62 acres in Bergen County and 16 in Passaic County. The Christian Health Care Center tapped Lecesse Construction Service to carry out the development. NorthJersey.com noted the project underwent 27 months of hearings in Wyckoff before its final size received approval in 2013. Nine more months of hearings ensued when the developer negotiated with the township of Hawthorne. The senior living community, one of several to come online in the Tri-State area in recent months, includes 20 floor-plan configurations ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 square feet. [NorthJersey.com]