Business View Civil and Municipal | May/June 2022

71 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5 to be in a small town. They want to be on a highway where they can have visibility. So, we thought the best thing for us to do is get people into our downtown. They’re going to stay local, they’re not going to drive to the big chain store to pick up a hamburger. And it’s been working for us.” Putting a strong focus on new development in the downtown core, they hired Michael Fabrizio as Executive Director of the Pompton Lakes Redevelopment Authority. Fabrizio had previously helped turn Morristown, NJ into a destination city. “We brought him over here to bring a piece of that to us,” says Andy Silverstein, Borough of Pompton Lakes Redevelopment chairperson. “He started bringing in developers and we started talking to property owners, and we accomplished a lot in the last four and a half years.” A former Salvation Army store site was torn down to make way for a 52-unit upscale apartment unit, they added a 22-unit development on their main street, and approval has come in for an eight-unit development, and an 18-unit development downtown. “We’ve also done some smaller projects, but we have really been moving along in trying to redevelop the town,” Silverstein says. “It’s exciting.” The borough’s biggest new development is being undertaken by Meridia Capodagli, the number one builder of apartments and condominiums in New Jersey. The firm seeks out underutilized and neglected properties in the state to restore. The new Pompton Lakes project will feature a mixed- use, six-storey building which includes 212 units and an upscale restaurant and bar. “Their MO is taking a chance on a town that hasn’t any proven development yet, and that’s where we were when they went fishing for this initially,” Serr says. “Since then we’ve gotten projects of 60 to 80 units, but nothing this large. They took a chance on building it. One of the things they liked was that we have a small, walkable mom- THE BOROUGH OF POMPTON LAKES , NEW JERSEY and-pop kind of downtown. Residents could theoretically walk out their door and be at a restaurant or a bar in two minutes.” With all its redevelopment, the borough is attracting attention from the likes of Tesla. In fact, Pompton Lakes was chosen as the site for 12 new Tesla EV charging stations, which are currently being installed. “We are on Highway 287, which is a major highway up here that gets you into New York City and Philadelphia,” Serr says. “Tesla felt that this would be good for one of their stopping areas when you’re routing out your travel. They have come to our