What's Wrong with a Foodtown in the New Development?

In May, when in the town center, an interesting issue was raised.

“I think overall there’s a little bit of a disconnect in terms of what the town is going to look like [when the redevelopment is complete],” said the resident, Mark Remolino. “If we understood what that goal is, I think everybody would be a lot more comfortable.”

Remolino’s point was well-taken. As the townspeople anticipate the finished construction, they tend to discuss their vision for the future town center, using descriptions like “elegant”, "quaint" and “upscale.”  They often express the hope that Bloomfield will become “more like Montclair” – specifically, like Church Street. 

But now that the project appears to be imminent, township officials have begun to bring those projections into focus. The question is, will the residents’ vision match the township’s?  

AvalonBay Communities, the real estate company slated to take charge of the project, recently delivered a series of presentations at township council meetings to clarify the vision. At last week’s meeting, for instance, AvalonBay Senior Vice President Ronald S. Ladell described a “luxury-type community” development with a 4-5 story elevator building, a fitness center, a club room and retail establishments on the first floor.  He held up a brochure depicting a spacious and elegant building complex, complete with a bright aqua swimming pool, giving people a good look at what they could expect.

He hastened to add that plans for the Bloomfield project do not include a pool. Still, supporting Ladell’s points, Township Administrator Yoshi Manale told Patch that the luxury development would change Bloomfield’s demographics, a necessary step in its planned upward trajectory.

“The clientele that we want to come to our downtown center and frequent our restaurants and stores . . . places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, have said no, because our demographics aren’t right,” Manale said.  “If we want those demographics -- that everyone says they want -- you have to attract those kind of stores.  And you do that by bringing in an AvalonBay.”

Yet , when Township Attorney Joe Baumann, accompanied by AvalonBay executives, discussed the proposed redevelopment plan, he said a Foodtown store is now being considered for tenancy in the complex -- not a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods – which at least one resident viewed as a game changer.

“Now we’re getting a Foodtown?  We were led to believe we were getting high-end stores [in the development],” said Russell Mollica, a frequent advocate for taxpayers. 

“A Foodtown?” echoed Councilwoman Peggy O’Boyle-Dunigan.  “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Foodtown is a phenomenal selection for the community,” Baumann responded.

Some residents who gathered outside after the meeting did not agree.  Neither did at least one business owner on Tuesday morning, who expressed disgust that the town center would become "just another shopping center with a Foodtown."

"They promised us they wouldn't bring in a Foodtown or a Pathmark," he said with disappointment. "We wanted a Trader Joe's."

So the question arises: As the development center project moves forward, will there be, as Remolino put it, a “disconnect” between what residents envision and what they are going to get? 

Based on the Foodtown discussion last night, it seems likely that compromises are ahead.  But for whom? 

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