Pathmark is closing and Montclair’s Lackawanna Plaza are is expected to undergo a massive transformation starting in the next 15 months.
* Check out the full slide presentation from the 4th ward community meeting on the Lackawanna Plaza Development.
At the meeting, two possible concepts (scroll through presentation above) were presented based on community feedback.
* Lackawanna Plaza in Montclair is owned by HP Lackawanna 2013 LLC, a partnership of The Hampshire Companies and The Pinnacle Companies. Following the meeting, Stolar and Montclair Planning Director Janice Talley provided additional statements.
* Stolar provided this timeline for a new “food store”:
“Montclair Mayor Robert Jackson has confirmed that the Township is working to coordinate shuttle service to the ShopRite in Bloomfield for neighborhood residents after the Pathmark closes. It is expected that the approval process will take a total of 12-15 months and construction of a new food store will take an additional 18-24 months. Lackawanna Plaza’s owners have offered to contribute to this shuttle program. Additionally, the ownership is working with the Supersuds Laundromat in Lackawanna Plaza to maintain laundry service for the neighborhood.”
Why would it take so long to replace the Pathmark? I understand that another supermarket that is interested in opening a business needs to be found. However, why would it take 18-24 months to construct a new food store? REALLY!!! On Valley Rd., the A&P changed into the Acme very quickly.
The Pathmark replacement is one part of the development plan, and it’s likely the new food market won’t be in the Pathmark space. It may be somewhere else on the large development site.
I’d be surprised if there’s a food market anywhere on that development site within the next three years.
It’s going to take so long because the current Pathmark structure will be – as I understand it – bulldozed and a new structure built in it’s place.