Two large mixed-use developments that aim to bring a combined 215 residential units near the Morristown train station, recently were approved by the Morristown planning board.
One Lackawanna Place, being developed by Bijou Properties, will have 89 residential units and 5,118 square feet of retail space.
The Metro, being developed by Morristown Associates, will bring 126 rental apartments to the area that currently is home to a strip mall at 22 Lafayette Avel, featuring a Staples. That project also will include the city’s first 100 extended-stay units.
Morristown Green, which always has the latest news of the city, was the first to report the news.
The two projects are the latest efforts to redevelop the area around the train station – and area that has benefited from the development of M Station.
Members of the planning board told Morristown Green that they hope the buildings serve as effective advertisements for the community to travelers taking the train or driving into town for the first time.
“When people come into a town or city, sometimes their first impression is what’s going to be lasting on them,” town council liaison Chris Russo said.
“Now, coming off 287 and Lafayette, they’re going to see these two beautiful buildings, and it’s going to wow people. They’ll say, ‘all this stuff I heard about Morristown must be true, look at these two unbelievable pieces of architecture.’”
The approval of One Lackawanna Place was vindicating for both the applicant and the town as it was the end of a nearly two-decade process on the project, which was repeatedly held up by litigation.
