Development in the Oranges

From the Star Ledger:

Move gets Organon site closer to redevelopment

The West Orange planning board approved a redevelopment plan for the abandoned Organon pharmaceutical plant Wednesday night that calls for new commercial development or the construction of up to 254 residential units.

The plan, which was finalized just hours before the meeting, allows for an array of commercial uses on the 11-acre site, ranging from medical facilities and research laboratories to private schools and information processing centers. Also mentioned in the plan are self- storage, Internet hosting and other business facilities.

The plan makes it clear that those are the preferred uses of the property. However, it allows for residential development "if and only if it is demonstrated by the redeveloper to the Township's satisfaction that non-residential uses are not possible or feasible." The plan does not describe what steps the redeveloper must take before making that determination.

If the property is developed residentially, the plan allows for up to 254 units in mid-rise buildings or a mix of mid-rise construction and condominiums.

Landmark hotel sold at auction for luxury condos

If investor-developer Airaj Hasan has his way, East Orange's former Hotel Suburban will be transformed into luxury condominium lofts.

Hasan successfully bid $1.4 million yesterday to purchase the once-swanky 11-story upscale hotel-turned-office building-turned eyesore.
...
Wright, like Hasan, said her plan would have focused on restoring the former hotel, transforming it into market-rate residential condominiums, and spending about $8 million on the South Harrison Street restoration job.

South Harrison Street used to be one of East Orange's premier addresses, a place where many of the city's wealthiest residents lived in buildings with spacious apart ments and doormen.

The Hotel Suburban, a 250-room facility that featured underground parking, two exit-entrances on South Harrison Street, a fancy marquee and a canopy that stretched from the marquee to the street curb, opened on Feb. 28, 1926.