TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE DESIGNATES DEVELOPER FOR JEWELRY MART SITE APARTMENTS

A Springfield-based builder has been chosen as the preferred developer for the former Jewelry Mart site on Springfield Avenue, where he is likely to build up to 35 apartments, according to Mayor Vic Deluca.

The Township Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved the choice of Charles Larkin to be the preferred developer for the site at 1581-1585 Springfield Avenue, which still has a sign reading Maplewood Manor. The vote was 4-0, with TC Member Greg Lembrich absent.

Since it is in a redevelopment area, any development must be done through the redevelopment process that requires the Township to choose a preferred developer. That designation means no other developer can be in negotiations with the Township for that site for at least 90 days.

"This is an area which we have had difficulty marketing and getting interest," Deluca said at the meeting. "We changed the redevelopment plan last year so that the first floor does not have to be retail. It can be retail, but it has to have community features."

Deluca added that "it actually is the deepest lot we have on Springfield Avenue" stretching back 175 feet from the edge of the curb, compared to most such lots that run about 100 feet deep.

No formal plans have been reviewed and the building would still need to go through the usual approvals and reviews before any work is begun. But Deluca said it is expected to have 30 to 35 apartments. He said Larkin is in the process of buying the land from the previous owners.