Changes to Toy’s former site OK’d
By: Walter Dawkins
Montvale allowing building’s expansion
MONTVALE - Developers have received final amended site plan approval to revamp office property on Summit Avenue left vacant Toys ‘R’ Us since early last year.
“We got site plan approval to add 10,800 square feet, to put a new façade on the building and make certain site improvements in order to reintroduce the property to the market as a new Class A building,” said Mark Schaevitz of Paragon Realty, which owns the property with Ivy Realty.
The new site plan was approved unanimously at Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting.
“The building has basically been empty and (hopefully) now we will have somebody to occupy (it),” said Mayor George Zeller. “The upgrade and taking it to a Class A will increase the tax revenue on the rolls.”
Planning Board member Wolfgang Vogt said the new site plan also calls for changes to the parking lot of the 1960’s era building.
“The access driveway to the building will be changed and there will be extensive landscaping,” Vogt said.
Schaevitz said area was being added to the 108,000-square-foot office structure to improve the floor plan to make it more suitable for current corporate users.
“It’s a lovely site and it’s well positioned, but the building aesthetically is very dated,” Schaevitz said.
“Toys ‘R’ Us performed significant improvements to the interior of the building in 1998, but they have not done anything to update the image of the building on the outside, nor to improve the ability to use the floor plan, so we are continuing the job they began,” he said.
In December, a zoning ordinance was adopted that allowed the owners to split the 38-acre office property into two lots, one for the existing office building and parking, and the second zoned for eight single-family homes and 20 town houses.
The developers, who purchased the land last summer, had worked with the borough to get the ordinance changed because they weren’t interested in using the entire campus for office space. Revenue from higher-end town homes could help make the deal more economically feasible, they said.
The plan also allowed for much of the undeveloped area at the location to remain that way.
“By substituting 28 residential units, as the ordinance allows, the vast majority of the trees will be retained,” Schaevitz said in December. “Twenty-eight houses doesn’t require anything like the clearing needed for a large office building and an additional 700 or 800 cars.”
The next step is for the developers to get site plan approval to build the residential properties.
About Ivy Realty
Founded in 1996, Ivy Realty, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ivy Equities, is a leading real estate investor and developer throughout New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Ivy targets investment opportunities in undervalued, high grade, income producing commercial properties. The Company has built a reputation for successfully completing a wide spectrum of creative developments in the office, mixed-use, retail, build-to-suit and residential sectors. Currently, Ivy Realty owns, manages and leases a 3.5 million-square-foot portfolio with added development potential throughout the tri-state area.
For more information contact Ivy Realty at their Montvale, New Jersey headquarters at (201) 573-8400 or visit the website at www.ivy-realty.com.
