Huge Parsippany project takes big step forward as part of town's changing landscape
After years of seeing plans for two large redevelopment projects that will bring nearly 1,100 new residential units to Parsippany, residents are seeing buildings rise on one lot.
Three buildings are under construction at PARQ, which is replacing office buildings demolished last year at the Lanidex East office park off Parsippany Road. The project, nestled into the interchange between Route 287 and Route 80, includes 600 residential units and a mix of ground-floor retail and open space on the 23-acre lot. Only two of the seven buildings on the site, which once totaled 450,000 square feet of office space, will remain.
Three miles to the south along eastbound Route 10, two more office buildings were demolished last year to make way for another mixed-use redevelopment project. Construction is now underway at the District at 1515, where 498 residential units are planned above ground-floor retail.
Township officials say the projects will help Parsippany reduce its glut of unoccupied office buildings in a commercial real-estate market where large companies and corporations have less need for office space.
The residential component of both projects also includes a percentage of the units set aside as affordable housing to help Parsippany meet its court-mandated obligation.
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PARQ Managing Director Haytham Haidar said the units designated as low-income − 60 in its first phase and 60 more in the second phase − will be built to the same standards and finish as the market-priced units.
"There's no distinction between affordable and market-rate, they're all the same," Haidar said. "The residents will not know the difference."
The construction underway at PARQ represents a first project phase that will include 275 multi-family residences, convenience retail, indoor and outdoor amenity space and parking. It will also include 75 clustered courtyard townhomes with two-car garages, an athletic field, a concession building, restrooms and a playground area.
Construction there began last June, but only recently has the project gained more attention with a building complex that is now at four stories and rising. "It's going up fast," Haidar said.
The first phase is scheduled to be completed and open in April 2024, Haidar said. The second phase is scheduled to begin in 2024, with 250 more residential units.
District at 1515
It's hard to see behind the 1,000-foot-long fence in front of the lot along Route 10 east, where two office buildings were demolished last year to make way for the District at 1515, another large mix of 498 units above ground-floor retail.
But preliminary construction began about a month ago on the 12-acre site, including footings and basement space, client agent Marc Hays said.
"There's a bunch of work crews there every day," he said.
It may be a few more months before the construction rises high enough to see.
Hays did not have a completion date available.
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William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com Twitter: @wwesthoven
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Parsippany NJ redevelopment project rises near routes 80, 287
