A high-end residential project that is planned for a site near the Woodbridge train station may bring hundreds of new residents to the downtown area.
Mayor John McCormac said the Prism Capital Partners project, which would be located on the site of the former Lucas Chevrolet dealership, would bring young families to Woodbridge and help with downtown revitalization efforts.
“It’s going to be 184 high-end [rental] apartments, a transit-oriented village,” McCormac said.
“There is a big demand for millennials to have something on the train line, and we feel this is going to bring a lot of people with income to our downtown shopping and dining area.”
Prism Capital Partners of Bloomfield signed an agreement in March to purchase the 5-acre parcel at the corner of Rahway Avenue and Green Street, across from the NJ Transit rail station.
“This is an exciting project for us,” said Eugene Diaz, a principal partner with Prism Capital Partners. “Transit-oriented development is a red-hot sector of the commercial real estate market in New Jersey and nationwide.
“Woodbridge is experiencing a renaissance, and this project is located in the heart of its downtown. We look forward to providing the type of luxury, fully amenitized apartment community for which our company has become known.”
McCormac described the demographic that could be expected to occupy the units.
“They will probably work anywhere from Trenton to New York, and they want to be near the train,” he said. “A lot of them will only have one car, and they are not very likely to have school-age kids.”
The mayor said there are no plans for a retail component of the project.
“Not right now, but there is retail all over the place in that area,” McCormac said. “They haven’t submitted the plans yet, but last I had seen it does not involve retail.”
McCormac said he expects the developer to discuss the plan with township representatives and submit an application to the Woodbridge Planning Board in the near future.
“We are treating it like a major redevelopment project,” he said. “It is a great use of the site, and it is going to help really transform downtown Woodbridge.”
The property is in a redevelopment area and is zoned for residential use.
If approvals are secured, construction would be targeted for later this year, according to the developer.