Preakness shops for redevelopment plan
Wayne strip mall gets extension for project
By: Philip DeVencentis
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
WAYNE - Redevelopment of Preakness Shopping Center may not begin for at least two more years after the property owner once again secured a time extension for the project.
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Meanwhile, officials who loathe to new wisdom for those who loaths to see its deserted storefronts.
..... "If you don't like what it looks like," said Mayor Christopher Vergano, "don't look."
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The mayor offered those remarks as the Planning Board voted on March 9 [2026] to grant a request by the owner of the 39.3-acre shopping center on Hamburg Turnpike to maintain its redevelopment approval until January 2028.
..... It is the fourth time that the property owner has been given a postponement, but Vergano said it would not serve a purpose to deny tis requests.
..... "I'm sure they're doing as much as they can to find a way to fill up those stores, or to come back with a new plan," Vergano said. "we need to encourage them and not put any roadblocks in their way."
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The shopping center, anchored by a Stop & Shop supermarket, is owned by a limited liability company of Hekemina & Company Incorporated in Hackensack. The real estate manager states on its website that the strip mall in Wayne is "soon to be redeveloped."
..... Gregory Asadurina, an attorney for the shopping center,s aid his client needed a time extension due "economic constraints," including the empty storefronts. he also cited global tariffs and a shortage of raw materials, among other issues.
...... New Jersey law presides that local zoning rules cannot change for at least two years after a major subdivision or a site plan is approved. It allows three one-year extensions after that grace period.
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Further extensions may be granted if a project exceeds 200,000 square feet in floor area or faces financial hardships.
..... "Given the complex nature of the project," Asadurian told board members, "it makes way for what the statute is really intended for."
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The approved project includes the constructions of a restaurant, with a drive-through lane, just west of the Hamburg Turnpike driveway plus the demolition of the former IHOP restaurant and the former Macy's department store. New buildings would go in those locations, while the south side of the building occupied by CBS Pharmacy would be renovated.
..... That plan is unrelated to a housing agreement for the property, endorsed by the Township council in November 2020. It calls for 244 apartments in a four-story building, with a seen-deck parking garage, on the north end of the site.
..... Thirty-seven units would be for low-income families.
..... In July, [2025] officials introduced an idea to revitalize the entire business corridor: rezoning 12 lots along a 94.6-acresection of Hamburg Turnpike, from Preakness Shopping Center to Wayne Hills Mall.
..... Conversations about that downtown concept are ongoing. Vergano said officials met twice this year [2026] with property owners of the area, including Hekemian.
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"It could be our one shot at ahivng a town center," Vergano said on March 12. [2026] "we want to make sure that we do it right."