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No. 15 Vol. 8
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www.theroxburynews.com
August 2017
Ledgewood Mall Keeping Brick And Mortar Strong With Renovation Plan
By: J.L. Shively esidents of Roxbury are all too familiar with the current “ghost town” state of the Ledgewood Mall but many residents also remember the bustling hub it used to be. Opening nearly 40 years ago, the Ledgewood Mall has seen many changes since its heyday, yet it is only in more recent years that the property has come to be nearly vacant. The closing of anchor store, Macy’s in 2015 marked a definite decline, leaving the mall nearly vacant with only Marshall’s, Ashley Furniture, and Bath and Body Works holding their ground in the main building. Sports Authority and restaurant, Ruby Tuesday’s closed within the last year leaving the large outbuilding along Mary Louise Ave. empty except for Men’s Wearhouse. Otherwise the mall in
the Ledgewood center has an empty and almost abandoned look compared to the neighboring mall of Roxbury. With the purchase of the property by partners, Advance Realty and DeBartolo Development two years ago, the plan and focus has turned towards renovating and rejuvenating the property. Jared Minatelli, director of Asset Management with Advance Realty acknowledges the current struggles of interior malls and speaks to the owner’s intention to “revitalize the mall” by giving the mall not only a facelift but by converting the structure to outdoor spacing for food, entertainment and service. The Ledgewood Mall was for “30 plus years an economic epicenter of that region of Morris county and we believe it can be that again,” states Minatelli. Township Manager John
Shepherd states, “Being new to Roxbury, it did not take long to realize that the Ledgewood Mall property is significantly underutilized. But I quickly realized that the property was nearing final approval for a redevelopment plan.” Foremost in this redevelopment plan, the mall was given a new name to match its upcoming revamped stature and is now the Shops at Ledgewood Commons. The company’s vision of an outdoor mall would include retrofitting the interior mall into new tenant space, states Minatelli and
then creating an entirely new façade onto the building from the current space where Marshall’s is situated up until Walmart. Walmart, though a large cornerstone store, is owned separately and renovation of the façade is not included in Advance Realty’s plans. This is not to say that Walmart cannot choose to renovate on its own, explains Minatelli. The first step of construction is slotted to be the demolition of the Macy’s building, which stands front and center to the rear mall. As part of the agreement
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Advance Realty and DeBartolo Development had in purchasing the property, the Macy’s structure, as well as any structures to be demolished in the construction, will be first used by the Roxbury Fire Department and Emergency Services to perform practice drills. Mike Pellek, fire official with Roxbury Township, explains that this is always something he looks to arrange when a building in the area is slated for demolition. The use of a building in this way allows for “more realistic, hands-on training,” explains Pellek, giving firefighters and emergency responders a chance to “better their skills” in a setting which is closer to the real thing. The agreement between the fire department and the current mall owners included a 30 day notice before demolition, which came up in July. Currently the fire depart-
ment is waiting on proper insurance clearances from the town before they commence running drills this month, explains Pellek. Drills that will likely be practiced on these structures, such as the Macy’s building which has a wide open floor plan, would include a wide area search, forcing doors, and even going onto the roof to cut holes to practice ventilations skills, states Pellek. Overall Pellek states that the town is looking forward to this project to better the mall and appreciates the “good partnership” between the town and current mall owners which will also “provide valuable training to the fire department.” After the demolition of the Macy’s building, other phases of the reconstruction can begin, including work done to current structures to create a unified look as well as re-landscaping the entire continued on page 2