The past few years have seen a series of business closures in West Orange’s Tory Corner neighborhood. A longstanding rooming house, a rare 24-hour diner, and a national pharmacy chain all packed up, leaving behind a desolate stretch of Main Street.
But one business owner saw an opportunity to reverse that trend. Last night, an ambitious plan to build a supermarket on two deserted lots at 262-272 Main Street won the Planning Board’s approval.
The developer, 262 Main Street Realty, LLC, plans to demolish the former Rite-Aid building and neighboring Americana Diner and replace them with a two-story glass-building that will house a 13,934-square-foot ground-floor grocery store called Leon Marketplace.
This is a neighborhood that has not had a full-fledged supermarket since the A&P at 216 Main Street closed about three decades ago. Although the proposed Leon Marketplace is only half the size of the Whole Foods on Prospect Avenue, this will provide more options to residents living in a high-density part of town where corner stores have been the only local source of fresh produce.
“This is not a Shop-Rite, this is not a large-scale market, this is something that’s been designed to fit the context here,” said Kate Keller, the project planner and principal at Phillips Preiss. “It’s going to have everything you’d want at a neighborhood market and it’s going to beautify this corner which has really been in my opinion significantly underutilized for such an important site. It’s going to help revitalize this portion of town.”
The owners of Leon Marketplace, who bring with them experience of running a line of convenience stores, are also opening a location with a similar formula in Union City. What is notable about the project is the building’s modern glass-and-stainless-steel facade that earned praise from the Planning Board. It is a marked change from the existing pharmacy building that has very few windows.
Architect Jorge Mastropietro said when the owners approached him last year, their hope was to put a different spin on the neighborhood supermarket formula with more interesting food options, including prepared foods, and an “inviting” appearance that could hopefully revive this part of Main Street.
“A lot of downtowns are dead because there is nothing interesting to see when you walk down the street,” Mastropietro said. “We’re trying to have an active storefront — many pharmacies and supermarkets don’t want that because they need the walls for shelf space.”
Last night’s approval brings a dose of optimism for downtown West Orange as other redevelopment projects still hang in the balance. Major downtown property owner Daniel Garcia-Pedrosa told Essex Review earlier this year that he is trying to revive his plans to restore the Llewelyn Hotel into apartments in a scaled-down version, after saying it was no longer feasible and listing the properties on the market.
Meanwhile, town officials are still waiting to hear if Matrix will follow through with the deal to build movie studios near the Thomas Edison National Historical Park. A decision is expected this January, but the developer can request another extension — it would be the third extension since inking a deal back in 2023 — as long as the Town Council approves.
