PASCACK VALLEY—Emerson Mayor Danielle DiPaola, speaking at the Greater Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce Breakfast With the Mayors on Jan. 24, said developments to watch in 2024 included the recent sale of Emerson Plaza Shopping Center and the new owner’s potential plans, plus the upcoming streetscape improvements along Kinderkamack Road.
The breakfast, at The Tavern at the Iron Horse in Westwood, is an annual tradition and major fundraiser for the chamber, which serves the eight towns of the Pascack Valley and nearby Oradell and Old Tappan.
DiPaola said a shared senior bus service with Westwood is popular with local seniors; a shared service with Upper Saddle River on a tree trimming truck also saves the borough money.
She said the borough has continued to pursue collaborations with the county, the District 39 legislative team, and Fifth District Congressman Josh Gottheimer “to claw back funding for infrastructure and some much needed measures to eliminate flooding in prone areas of the borough.”
She said in 2024, streetscape improvements along Kinderkamack Road funded by a state Transportation Alternative Program grant will begin “and improve the overall aesthetics and make Emerson more inviting” to travelers who enter the borough coming from Oradell.
She said due to challenges in getting volunteers for the volunteer ambulance corps, the borough continued its contract with Holy Name Medical Center for local ambulance service.
She said the Land Use Board recently approved a four-unit affordable housing complex for disabled veterans, which includes a meeting facility for the local American Legion.
She said that property owner Urstadt Biddle recently sold the Emerson Plaza, 8.67 acres at 411-495 Old Hook Road, at the Main Street–Old Hook Road nexus, which is anchored by ShopRite. The plaza includes a 93,000-square-foot retail shopping plaza and an 8,900 square foot, two-story professional office building.
“So we do have a new owner at one of our largest spaces in Emerson, commercial space, and we’re excited to see what that brings this year,” added DiPaola.
Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. says online it was acquired by Regency Centers Corporation in an all stock transaction valued around $1.4 billion.
The takeover took place in August 2023. In late 2021, Urstadt Biddle reportedly owned interests in 79 properties nationwide totaling 5.1 million square feet of gross leasable space.