Parsippany NJ developer tax debate continues: Video
Parsippany Councilman Justin Musella (third from left) discusses developer tax breaks with Mayor James Barberio (second from right) on June 27, 2024.
After the loss of three anchor businesses in 2024, one of Parsippany’s oldest and largest shopping centers is under scrutiny by town officials, who want to see if it should be designated as an area in need of redevelopment.
Acting on a request from the Township Council in December, the Parsippany Planning Board voted in January to authorize a preliminary study of the Morris Hills Shopping Center.
Opened in 1957 at the intersection of routes 46 and 202, the Morris Hills Shopping Center debuted with an Acme supermarket and the W.T. Grant department store as its main tenants. But the center, located across the street from town hall, has seen vacancies pile up in recent years.
Last summer, Blink Fitness closed an outpost that had taken over the old Acme space. Home Goods and Marshalls also exited last year, taking up new locations a few miles east at the Arlington Plaza mall on Route 46.
What’s next for Morris Hills Shopping Center?
The study, led by township planner Christine Winter, will investigate potential alternatives for the 18.5-acre Morris Hills property, which currently includes a standalone Bank of America, a strip of retail stores and restaurants, and a multiplex movie theater that has been vacant since 2020.
Existing tenants include the Great Wazu sandwich shop, Habit Burger, America’s Best Eyeglasses and Cheap Maggies, a discount retailer of clothing, footwear and other items. A standalone McDonald’s that fronts a portion of the shopping center, occupying a former bank building, is not part of the site.
After reviewing Winter’s investigation, the planning board will vote on a recommendation to send back to the council.
Property and tax records show the shopping center is assessed at $22.4 million. Including the movie theater, the center offers a total of 159,000 square feet of rentable space. With the anchor and theater vacancies, it is less than 35% occupied.
“At this point, we are awaiting this study and would be happy to share more information once this process has progressed,” Maria Pace, a spokesperson for Morris Hills owners Brixmor Property Group said on Thursday.
The property lies in a B-1 zone permitting a variety of retail and commercial uses, but not residential.
A new bill in the state Senate, sponsored by Sen. Troy Singleton, would authorize the conversion of certain office parks and retail centers to mixed-use developments, which can include residential units, if the vacancy rate drops below 40%.
What is ‘an area in need of redevelopment?’
Municipal governing bodies in New Jersey can designate a property as an “area in need of redevelopment” if it qualifies based on certain criteria. They include a determination that buildings are dilapidated, obsolete, faulty in design or in some other way “detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community.”
The shopping center has struggled to maintain tenants over the years since Acme closed in 1992. Expansion and renovation plans approved in 1989 led to the demolition of a freestanding bowling alley on the property in favor of more retail space.
The center’s other anchor space was formerly occupied by the W.T. Grant. A two-screen General Cinema movie theater took that over in 1967 but closed in 1987. The space was then renovated a second time to accommodate Home Goods and Marshalls.
A standalone Clearview Cinema opened in 1994, but it finally closed during the COVD-19 pandemic in 2020, following a series of ownership changes, remodelings and temporary closings.
Morris Hills also faced increased competition in 2019 when the Waterview Marketplace debuted just to the west on Route 46, with Whole Foods as an anchor.
Flurry of projects along Route 46
To the east, Parsippany’s Route 46 corridor has seen a flurry of property sales and redevelopment projects in recent years.
Four commercial buildings at Colony Plaza on Route 46 West were demolished in 2023 to make way for a Chick-fil-A that opened last spring. Meanwhile, the 3.5-acre Empire Diner property on the eastbound side of the highway, next to Smith Field Park, was sold in 2023.
Four more commercial buildings near Colony Plaza were recently demolished on a 10.5-acre site, where Top Golf plans to build a 67,000-square-foot entertainment center. Those buildings were sold for $10.5 million in 2021.
To the east, the Cerbo family closed their 76-year-old lumberyard and sold the 4-acre property to an owner who the family described as “a local developer.”
Several of those properties and more along the commercial corridor have been purchased by a local investor, Shree Parsippany Developers LLC.