Vacant Springfield Avenue Jewelry Mart to Make Way for Mixed Use Building - The Village Green
On Tuesday, September 5, the Maplewood Township committee designated local builder and architect Mark Carelli as the develop of 1581 Springfield Avenue, the current site of the vacant Jewelry Mart building.
Carelli recently developed “255 Tuscan” the site of a former church on Boyden Avenue as 30 apartments across from Seth Boyden School. (One-bedroom apartments at 255 Tuscan are renting for $1,850-$1,950/month; two-bedroom apartments are listed for $2,325-$2,450/month.)
According to Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca, Carelli “has purchased the property and will be redeveloping it into a mixed use building. He will retain the first floor and basement for retail and build apartments above.”
DeLuca reported that the Township Committee has designated an LLC affiliated with Carelli as “the preferred developer for a period of 90 days during which we will craft a redevelopment agreement. He will also provide a $7,500 escrow payment to cover our legal and planning costs.”
DeLuca could not say yet how many apartments would be proposed for the new building or how many square feet of commercial space would be allocated. “Mark Carelli has not finalized plans yet. Part of the negotiation of the developer’s agreement is to define the use and scope of the project. I don’t have any more specifics at this time,” said DeLuca.
Village Green will continue to follow this story.
