Garden State Plaza redevelopment plans 1,400 apartments

Unit count more than doubles previous pitch for the Paramus property

Garden State Plaza Redevelopment to Include 1,400 Apartments

From left: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield CEO Jean-Marie Tritant and Mill Creek Residential CEO Bill MacDonald in front of One Garden State Plaza Parkway in Paramus (Getty, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Mill Creek Residential, Google Maps)

A major makeover of the Garden State Plaza in Paramus is years in the making. It’s also growing in scope.

The redevelopment of the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield-owned New Jersey mall is slated to feature nearly 1,400 apartments, NorthJersey.com reported. The housing component was referenced in a project outline that was subject to its first public hearing last week.

The Mall is one of the most valuable assets in its owner’s portfolio and has been bandied about since 2019. There haven’t been many substantial updates since then, but the project appears to be ramping up, as another hearing is scheduled for early next month.

At first, the mall project was expected to include 550 luxury apartments in an initial phase of construction. That number has since been increased by 25 units.

But the project outline also details an additional 809 multifamily units for the development across three future phases, bringing the potential total number of apartments to 1,384. Of the 809 added units, 122 would be designated affordable. The total also includes a 230-unit senior-assisted and memory-care facility.

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Future phases of the project span multiple buildings, featuring roughly 60,000 square feet of retail space and plenty of parking spaces to go around. Other components of future phases of the redevelopment include a one-acre outdoor gathering venue, medical offices, a seven-story hotel and a regional bus center.

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Future phases of the project still need approval from the Paramus Planning Board. Along with the owner, the project is being co-developed by Mill Creek Residential.

As the fate of malls hangs in the balance post-pandemic, owners appear eager to pursue a live-life-work strategy at properties by adding more public and residential space. In Connecticut, Austin-based Centennial Real Estate is looking to convert the Connecticut Post Mall in Milford to a property with 750 housing units.

Holden Walter-Warner