DEVELOPMENT

Developer's plan would transform Somerville's South Bridge Street

Mike Deak
MyCentralJersey.com

SOMERVILLE – When will it end?

The apartment construction boom in the county seat will continue if the borough Planning Board approves a proposal to build 61 "luxury" apartments on South Bridge Street opposite police headquarters.

Somerville Multi-Family LLC is proposing a five-story building on five lots at 23-37 S. Bridge St. in the block south of Main Street. The plans call for the demolition of the four structures on the parcel, including the former tavern, Lip's Lounge.

The planning board hearing is scheduled for July 14

The plan calls for a parking deck on the first two floors with 26 one-bedroom apartments and 35 two-bedroom apartments on the upper three floors.

Several variances are required, including lot size, lot depth, parking spaces (62 proposed when 117 are required) and sidewalk width (6.5 feet proposed when 8 feet is required).

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The stretch of Bridge Street south of Main Street to the NJ Transit railroad tracks has been targeted for downtown redevelopment.

When the borough's new emergency services headquarters is completed on Gaston Avenue, borough officials are anticipating selling the police headquarters, which at one time was a brewery, for redevelopment.

The southeastern corner of Bridge and Main streets is also targeted with redevelopment with former Major League Baseball player and Immaculata High School standout Jack Cust Jr. proposing a multi-story steakhouse and a food hall at the corner, space currently occupied by small businesses including the Sunrise Luncheonette.

That development would be like one in Easton, Pennsylvania, where the Oak steakhouse has become part of that city's downtown revitalization next to the Easton Public Market.

Conceptual plans call for the steakhouse to be on three levels with the kitchen on the second story and bars and dining areas on the second and third stories.

The second story will be open, overlooking the food hall on the first floor along South Bridge Street.

The third story will offer rooftop dining with a retractable roof, "like a convertible," Cust previously told the Borough Council.

A block away, leasing has started at the Station House apartments on Veterans Memorial Drive on the site formerly occupied by the Somerset Messenger-Gazette that was shuttered by Advance Publications, the owners of NJ.com and the Star-Ledger.

Construction is progressing on the long-awaited transit village on the borough's former landfill by the train station.

AvalonBay Communities, a national real estate firm, is building a 374-unit apartment community with street-level storefronts, NJ Transit parking facilities, a public plaza and a much-needed civic center.

In addition to AvalonBay’s apartments in the overall development called Somerville Station, PulteGroup, one of the nation's largest home builders, is building a new community of 156 for-sale townhomes as part of the project.

Also under construction on West Main Street is the next phase of Somerville Town Center, which is for 153 apartments in a five-story building along Main Street. The first floor of the building will have 29,721 square feet of retail space and 9,152 square feet of restaurant space. The apartments and retail spaces will mirror the five-story Edge on the east side of Davenport Street. 

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.