A new plan has emerged to demolish the historic Essex House in West Orange and make way for a 105-unit apartment building. But town officials are warning the developer that he could be in for a fight.
Built to resemble an English inn, the Essex House is the most recognizable landmark on Northfield Avenue, serving for the past decades as a gatehouse for St. Cloud, a historic neighborhood long considered eligible for the National Register. But for the last two decades of its existence, it has been threatened with demolition.
The Markouris family, the longtime owners, tried to hold on to the building, but struggled to find a tenant in the latter part of its life. In 2010, a plan to build a strip mall got thwarted. Then in 2022, the Hanini Group wanted to build a 100-unit apartment building on the property but backed away after community opposition about the size of the building, insufficient parking, and the impact on traffic so close to an elementary school.
In the latest plan, Newark-based developer Pedro Gomes envisions a mixed-used building with 105 apartments, which is notably larger than the previous redevelopment plan, but offers more parking with 198 spaces. Gomes, whose vast real estate holdings are focused near Broad Street Station, has a reputation for putting shovels in the ground and doing so without delay.
However, the plan hinges on requesting nine variances, three of them are related to the township’s steep slope ordinance. This particular law, which was updated in 2022 when Mayor Susan McCartney was on the Town Council, has become an incredibly thorny issue in a township that saw a rockface collapse only a mile down the road.
Malvika Apte, the board planner, said some aspects of the plan were a “major concern” at a Site Plan Review earlier this month.
“There have been incidents in the past in the township of West Orange where steep slope disturbances have led to some kind of issues,” Apte said. “So the board and the public are very, very aware and concerned when the disturbance occurs in these areas.”
Ryan MacNeill, the board engineer, recommended that Gomes bring the author of his geotechnical study to testify on the stability of the slope. “That’s definitely going to be a hot button issue to provide substantial testimony on,” he said. “I want to stress that the board absolutely will have a lot of questions on the steep slope and stormwater — that’s typical for most applications.”
Although the building at 525 Northfield Avenue is not a designated landmark, it is near an eligible historic district where residents want new construction to have more sensitive design, according to Robin Miller, a Zoning Board member.
“This property previously had a long drawn-out Zoning Board approval process and the neighborhood especially was very concerned with keeping some of the elements that were currently there,” Miller said. “I just know that this will be something that the neighborhood will be very concerned about, so I sincerely hope you anticipate that.”
In the end, Gomes indicated that the plan was unlikely to see substantial changes when it comes to the Planning Board.
“The intent is to get a hearing immediately,” Gomes said. “We’re not going to revise the plans. If we revise it prior we’ll notify you guys but we’re moving forward.”
