Edison Village Slated for Spring Start

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

West Orange, N.J.—Edison Village in West Orange Township has won final site plan approval in preparation for construction to start this spring. The $230 million project is an industrial-to-residential adaptive reuse redevelopment of the historic Thomas Edison Invention Factory.

Originally built in 1913 by Thomas Edison, until 1965 the complex served as a manufacturing operation where Edison employees produced storage batteries used in light delivery vehicles, automobiles, railroad signals, industrial applications and mining equipment. Phase I of Edison Village involves the total renovation and reconstruction of that facility, and its design, by Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners, takes advantage of existing architectural features to incorporate ceiling heights ranging from 14 feet to 16 feet, and 10-foot windows that will let in natural light.

The building’s 331 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom rental apartments will range from 590 square feet to 1,500 square feet. Residents will have access to a private fitness center, swimming pool, personal and bike storage, meeting rooms and doorman service, among other amenities.

Edison Village’s first phase includes an 18,000-square-foot retail component, Shoppes at Edison Village, which will be constructed on the corner of Charles Street and along Main Street. Also, Prism Capital Partners will build a 630-car parking garage as part of Phase I. Phase II will include more than 300 additional housing units.

The entire Edison Village project encompasses 21 acres in West Orange Township’s Downtown Redevelopment Area that will be LEED certified, as well as featuring an urban landscape, including parks and open green spaces. The township named Prism Capital Partners as its designated redeveloper for Edison Village in late 2006, and by 2008, the firm had completed a significant amount of demolition and site work. After a recession-induced delay, the project re-started last fall.