Morristown train station redevelopment returns

Plan for downtown back on track after five years

MORRISTOWN — A redevelopment plan approved nearly five years ago for the area around the downtown railroad station may finally get moving after the Town Council advanced the project.

The council voted 6-0 on Aug. 8, with Stefan Armington abstaining, to approve a resolution authorizing developer Lackawanna Place Morristown Urban Renewal, LLC, to submit a site plan to the Planning Board.

If approved, the proposal would build 89 residential units, including 13 affordable units, on two acres surrounding the NJ Transit station. The new five-story structure along Lafayette Avenue and Lackawanna Place would also include up to 3,900 square feet of retail space, a bike depot with at least 72 spaces and a variety of streetscape projects along adjoining roads.

The approval on Aug. 8 followed a brief presentation by Chris Colley, a principal of municipal planner Topology, that served to “refresh the council and the public’s memory” on the redevelopment project that was approved in December 2018.

The proposal also calls for 166 parking spaces: 128 in a parking structure, 34 on the ground level and four across the street on Lackawanna Place. At least 69 of the current public parking spaces will remain, Colley said, of which 31 will be inside the parking structure.

The project was delayed in recent years as the town worked to obtain the property from NJ Transit. The lengthy effort included a February 2022 lawsuit in which the Morristown Parking Authority alleged the state agency unlawfully demanded payment to preserve public parking spaces in the development.

Councilman Robert Iannaccone expressed his support for the project and the town’s long journey to purchase the property.

“That’s a good thing because, quite frankly, they don’t take as good care of this building as they should,” he said of NJ Transit.

Mayor Tim Dougherty also thanked Topology − whose founder, Phil Abramson, is the town planner for Morristown −as well as the council and other town professionals for “sticking with” the project throughout the years.

“This, as you just saw, is an absolutely stunning, beautiful development at our train station,” Dougherty said. “This is what is envisioned in transit living, and it will only boost transit riders (and) help the economy.”

The project, Colley noted, is subject to review and potential modifications by the Planning Board.

PROVIDED BY MHS ARCHITECTS A rendering of a proposed residential building above public parking that would be preserved at an existing lot behind the Morristown Train Station.