Posted on 03/09/2026 1:28:58 PM PDT by Morgana
A failing New Jersey shopping center could soon be demolished and replaced with hundreds of apartments under a controversial redevelopment plan.
The near-vacant Raritan Mall has long been described by locals as an ‘eyesore’ after years of empty storefronts and declining business.
Developers now want to tear down the aging complex and replace it with a five-story project containing 276 apartments, according to plans submitted by Raritan Mall Urban Renewal.
The proposal would also include 42 affordable housing units and ground-floor retail space.
A second retail area, within an existing structure that formerly housed a bank, would include parking and landscaped gardens.
It's unclear how long this project will take and when construction would begin.
The New Jersey mall has remained mostly vacant since 2016, when supermarket giant Stop & Shop officially closed.
This year, the only remaining storefronts are Indian restaurant Paradise Biryani Pointe and discount store Deal Hub - despite the center originally being designed for 15 retail tenants.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The best I’ve ever done was to drive a pickup truck through a trade show. They gave me a late delivery time and I needed four spotters.
I’ve pulled trailers into trade show several times but it was early set up so it wasn’t a big deal.
“I kinda felt stupid for wasting my time and gas driving out to that mall.”
This is exactly how I feel going anywhere now. Spend time and gas running around to find fewer(or no), overpriced, inferior options.
Loved malls growing up in late 80s and 90s. After recent trips to outlet stores and seeing the ridiculous markups, I’ve sworn them off altogether except as a last resort.
I’ve pulled trailers into trade show several times but it was early set up so it wasn’t a big deal.
Yeah it’s rare but I’ve seen it
I was born in northern NJ(Kearny).
Used to drive up Rt.46 to The WillowBrook Mall back in the ‘70s’’.
A vanished America.
Flash forward 5-15 years after the apartment building is occupied.......
Newsflash - New Jersey Apartment/Affordable Housing complex could soon be demolished.
After years of drug gangs, homeless haunting the few residents, the same government that tore down a shopping mall to create the present situation is weighing what to build next.
An RFP for ideas, with clear instructions to reserve 10% for each New Jersey Big Guy, is under development.
The late 80’s/early 90’s were a good time for that mall. I miss Cindy’s Cinnamon rolls. :(
I remember the cinnamon scent throughout the mall😋
I thjink it had more to do with the numerous flash mobs, gang s, and loiterers who that just became pervasive in the malls.
I’ve seen videos where they turn malls into apartments. I liked it. The main floor still had businesses.
I could pitch a tent and live at the Dover Boscovs.
Amazon was still selling books when box stores killed the mall.
Large stores such as Target, Walmart, Best Buy, etc. wanted their own property for tax purposes, to take loans against, and to have control over who was shopping there, including the parking lots.
More slums!
Yes!
Stonewall owners fund gay activism. Name originally was about the stonewall uprising in NYC and the fact that the guys also had a stonewall on their property. Fwiw.
Everytime I visit a friend in Connecticut we go to the local big deal mall. He says the place is thriving and doing well.
Each ti.e I am there I see the downgrade in kinds of retailers and a real change in the types of shoppers.
Yes, I know the history of Stonewall. I’ve been to their place off off Rte. 1 in Maine since it opened years ago. It’s actually very nice. They have all their products and you can sample as many as you like. There’s also a restaurant and you can take the food out and eat in their garden. I know the history but they have the best apricot jam and some of the best mustards. They’re expensive though, that’s why I buy it from Boscovs.
That was certainly part of it.
CC
This is a perfect example of why conservatives fail to change the culture.
“Affordable housing” inevitably gets hit with the “grandma syndrome”.
The way that works is that the initial tenant screening of the new development is very sound.
The “affordable” units go to folks like that nice black grandma who would never hurt a soul.
Everyone in the building likes her.
It takes a year or two—and then grandma’s daughter (a single mom) gets arrested (usually for drug addiction) and grandma agrees to take in the teenage kids.
One of the kids is a street thug.
He terrorizes grandma, quickly takes over grandma’s apartment.
Then he invites a few of his thug friends to join him as they turn the apartment into a drug and gun heaven.
At that point the thugs start terrorizing the residents of the apartment building—burglaries, muggings, car break ins etc etc etc.
Apartment building residents start fleeing the building and moving elsewhere.
The owner starts lowering rental standards just to fill up units.
In a couple more years the building has become a slum.
In the same complex is a large group of apartments (at least 50...if not more),many of which go for a million dollars or more. Very swanky! It's hard to tell what might happen to those in 10 years.
With a derelict mall attached? Could be a downside.
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