Maplewood, New Jersey: Another Essex County township has been seeing an increase in development, and more could be on the way.
The Maplewood Township Planning Board will hear a proposal tonight regarding plans for a new building along Springfield Avenue. According to the meeting agenda, Elite Properties is planning to build a 30-unit apartment building at 1687-1689 and 1695-1701 Springfield Avenue, between Tuscan Street and Vermont Street. Currently, the properties contain parking lots and the Di Pietro Foods store. It is not clear if the store will be demolished to make way for the development.
Elite Properties, based in Warren Township, Somerset County, also owns the nearby Maplewood Crossing development, which was completed in 2014, along Burnett Street. A house and a large vacant lot were previously located at the site, and Elite is planning to build an additional building with 25 apartments on the property.
On Springfield Avenue, more changes are coming. A new restaurant called Cornbread is being developed, a Wawa store and gas station is expected to open this fall, and the Avalon Maplewood apartment complex at the site of the PSE&G building could open in 2017.
In the past 10 years, several changes have come to the avenue, including the construction of a Walgreens pharmacy at the site of a car dealership, the opening of a 7-Eleven, the conversion of Wyman Ford into stores, and the development of the Maplewood Police and Court Building.
The area is served by the Maplewood Jitney and NJ Transit buses.
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