Passaic expects to see its first rooftop bar open in October
Come October, Passaic is expecting to see its first rooftop bar open.
Atop 822 Main Ave.'s Passaic Plaza strip mall, a 6,600-square-foot bar with a giant-screen TV, a hookah lounge and panoramic vistas will be part of the small-plates restaurant I Want U Rooftop.
Alex Perez's family owns Passaic Plaza, on property that previously housed a used car lot and a building supply company. Since the purchase, Perez said, he has envisioned a restaurant and rooftop bar there.
It remained mostly on a back burner until Perez and his bestie, Justin Gordnick, were hanging out watching March Madness on TV but hankering to go out of the city.
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"I was like we have no place to go," Gordnick said. That's when Perez told him, "I got this thing that is going to be nothing like anything in the area."
That set the wheels in motion. Gordnick, who also owns a solar company, Phoenix Energy, with his brother Chris, found some partners to get I Want U Rooftop off the ground.
The plan right now is for a 1,200-square-foot first floor with a bar and lounge, a 1,700-square-foot dance floor with a bar on the second floor, and the rooftop bar.
They expect the club to be open by the first week of October, although during a visit Thursday, a fair amount work remained to done.
From the rooftop you can see much of the skyline of southern Passaic County.
Parking at the strip mall will be tight, but Perez said he plans to resolve that issue by allowing I Want U Rooftop to valet-park. Currently the plan is to put cars at other properties Perez owns in the neighborhood.
He also hopes to strike a deal with two properties across the street, Chestnut Plaza and Mount Zion Baptist Church, to allow valet parking.
When asked about the city's concerns regarding parking, Passaic Mayor Hector Lora said I Want U Rooftop meets the city's parking requirement. Besides the proposed valet parking, he said, there's ample meter parking along Main Avenue and alongside Passaic Plaza on Chestnut Street.
"Under code 317-12, structures on Main Avenue are exempt from from parking requirements. That’s been around over 50 years," Lora said, adding that the requirement makes it easier for new businesses along Main Avenue to open without having to appear before the Planning Board.
The mayor said that in recent years, the club The Guest List was open and attracted hundreds, and parking was not an issue.
Perez said I Want U Rooftop will be just one of two rooftops for Passaic Plaza. Also in the works is one for the neighboring Taqueria Los Amigos.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Passaic NJ to open first rooftop bar in October: What we know
