FEATURE ARTICLE, DECEMBER 2004

A DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE
Livingston Town Center will soon provide the downtown commercial center that Livingston, New Jersey, has never had.
Dawn Pick Benson

Livingston, New Jersey, will soon get the downtown that it has never had. Livingston Town Center, a new 70,000-square-foot downtown lifestyle center that includes 50,000 square feet of upscale retail space and 20,000 square feet of professional office space, is currently under construction, along with a parking garage and 114 luxury residences that include 17 single-family homes, 73 townhomes and 24 condominiums.

A New Face

Eastman Companies, Jacobs Enterprises and Roseland Property Company are developing Livingston Town Center in Livingston, New Jersey. The 14-acre, $70 million project is located at the intersection of Livingston Avenue and Route 10.

Livingston Town Center will replace the old Livingston Manor Shopping Plaza, which was demolished to make way for this new development. According to George Jacobs, president of Clifton, New Jersey-based Jacobs Enterprises, the new development is intended to give Livingston the downtown commercial center that it has been missing.

The approximately 14-acre, $70 million project is located in the affluent suburban Essex County community of Livingston, New Jersey, at the intersection of Livingston Avenue and Route 10 (Mount Pleasant Avenue). A joint venture between Eastman Companies, Jacobs Enterprises and Roseland Property Company is developing the project.

The project, which will be completed in 2006, is being built under a redevelopment plan that township officials adopted in 2002 after years of planning, debate and legal wrangling over the future of the site.

Livingston Town Center, with its Federal-style architecture, decorative sidewalks and ornate street lamps, was designed to conjure up images of Harvard Yard or historic Philadelphia. The buildings will be red brick, modeled to reflect the township’s municipal building and high school. Crowning the main retail structure will be a clock tower — a fixture that has historically marked town centers.

The development will create a festive and pedestrian-friendly environment with a mix of specialty retailers and restaurants. It will be a place for residents to dine, shop and enjoy special events.

A Unique Contribution

A unique aspect in developing Livingston Town Center, according to Jacobs, is that it will, in effect, create a new center of an existing community. “You don’t get this kind of an opportunity very often,” he says. “We’re rebuilding the historic intersection of a town that has been in existence for 250 years.”

But rebuilding a downtown center doesn’t come without challenges. “As a result of this effort,” says Jacobs, “we had to meet the requirements of the community, the neighbors, adjoining land owners, and other tenants in the area, while maintaining the road pattern and making sure we didn’t interrupt the commerce of the town.”

A Welcome Change

Livingston’s strong demographics are attracting upscale specialty retailers looking to locate in Livingston Town Center, according to Jacobs. Of the 206,841 people within a 5-mile radius of the site, the average household income is $141,430. More than 42.6 percent of all households have incomes of more than $100,000.

According to Jacobs, site work on Livingston Town Center is nearing completion and the foundation for the parking deck is underway.

Response to the new development has been fabulous, says Jacobs. “On the retail side, we’re turning away hundreds of prospective tenants because we’re working very hard to make sure that the mix is right,” he adds. Jacobs says he’s looking to turn store space over to tenants during the third quarter of next year.

Tenants who have already signed leases include Sur La Table, Cold Stone Creamery, Baumgart’s Restaurant, London & Sherwin, Test Rite Opticians and Silverman’s Card and Gift, which is the only tenant from the old Livingston Manor Shopping Plaza expected to carry over to the new development.

Residential development is also underway. “The site work is being completed,” says Jacobs. “Roads are being put in and the residential sales center opened in October.” The first phase of residential will be available around the third quarter of 2005. Response to the residential development has also been positive. “We have almost 15 times the number of inquiries than we have units,” says Jacobs. “It’s been incredible.”

“The financial markets are very excited about the development,” says Jacobs. “It’s proving to be a great project, and we’re very excited to be a part of it.”

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