PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council approved a Person-to-Person Transfer of a Plenary Retail Consumption liquor license for Mack-Cali Realty Corporation. The vote was 3-2, with Councilman Paul Carifi, Jr., and Council Vice President Robert Peluso voting against the transfer.
The application indicates it will be used for a restaurant, and will be issued in the name of Hanover Hospitality Corp, and will remain a pocket license until such time a physical location is secured to transfer the license. A license which becomes inactive and is no longer sited at a business premises becomes a “pocket” license. At the time a pocket license is reactivated, the licensee must file an application for a place-to-place transfer of the license so that it may be sited at the new active business address. A spokesman for Mack-Cali stated “Nothing we can report. No leases signed.”
Council President Dr. Louis Valori stated “The applicant satisfied all township requirements relative to the acquisition of this license. There was no legitimate or plausible reason to reject this application.”
“The request to transfer a plenary retail consumption license to the premises raises a concern for me without knowing the plans for the premises. The location where they request to move the license is approved as an office complex, a use that has one of the lowest impacts on surrounding properties. Without knowing the purpose of the transfer, I am concerned that this is a precursor to conversion to a use with greater impact on our community. I would like to see the full plan for the use of this license, and the property, before being asked to approve this application. The community has a right to know what is being proposed at the premises. I will not be a rubber stamp on an application without full disclosure to our community,” stated Robert Peluso Council Vice President.
The license was purchased from the owners of the former Chand Palace, 189 Littleton Road. Chand Palace closed in September 2016.
Other than this license, there are no other licenses available within the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills. According to a recent OPRA request, the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills has 44 establishments with liquor licenses.
The license must be used within the borders of Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills. The new Wegmans Supermarket being constructed in the Mack-Cali campus is located in Hanover Township, so this license could not be used on those premises. In addition to Wegmans, they will be constructing three restaurants and a drive-through bank on Ridgedale Avenue and Sylvan Way.
Recently, it has been rumored that Mack-Cali will repurpose office buildings off of Route 202 and Route 10. The plan, according to some, is to turn one of the Campus Drive buildings into 97 apartment units and store-fronts at the main level. There was also talk about bringing a upscale restaurant within the complex.
Parsippany officials won’t say if any empty Mack-Cali office buildings are being considered for housing complex. 1633 Littleton Road, built in 1978, formerly occupied by Skanska has been vacant since 2014 and 2 Campus Drive, which is directly behind 1633 is also vacant. Both properties, have a for-lease sign posted, but a review of the Mack-Cali website, shows no information for these two buildings. Loopnet.com indicates both properties are off the market. 1633 Littleton Road is directly across from the entrance to Sedgefield Civic Association (Sherwood Road). Mack-Cali didn’t comment on whether these two buildings are being considered for repurposing.
Mack-Cali, the state’s largest office landlord, is pushing ahead with plans to re-energize its 2.2 million square feet of space in Parsippany-Troy Hills.
Doing so means investing in new amenities such as cafeterias, fitness rooms and conference centers across roughly a dozen buildings, but also enhancing the area with new uses such as a hotel, a supermarket and new apartments, according to an article published in Real Estate New Jersey.
In recent years, Mack-Cali has bolstered its portfolio in Parsippany through both addition and subtraction. In January 2016 they acquired 3 Sylvan Way (click here for article), a 150,000-square-foot property, while selling four others on Century Drive and 600 Parsippany Road. (Click here for article).
In neighboring Morris Plains, Mack-Cali held a ceremonial ground breaking, in August 2016, for its newest luxury residential community, Signature Place at Morris Plains. The new multi-family community will feature 197 luxury apartment homes and is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017. This site was previously a vacant Mack-Cali office building that is being repurposed into a multi-family residential community. (Click here for article).
Parsippany has 140 properties with 16,241,867 square feet of office space averaging rentals of $25.70 per square foot.
