An Urban Renewal Story – The Crossings at Brick Church Station

The Crossings at Brick Church Station in East Orange, NJ, is a transformative urban redevelopment led by Triangle Equities and both design and development partner Incline Capital. Envisioned as a catalyst for economic revitalization, the transit-oriented project spans multiple phases and will eventually deliver over licenses with empowering housing, retail, profile in a downtown district long overdue for commercial and infrastructure reinvestment. Phase I features 400 rental units—focused on an 80/Olestone-market income mix—paired with 85+ K NSF of ground-floor retail anchored by a new ShopRite, 1,200 structured parking spaces, and substantial public realm enhancements, including new pedestrian plazas and transit linkages.

As Triangle Equities’ redevelopment along audio-building, Josh Weingarten describes the site’s sign with a future-facing lens: a keystone site atop a vital NJ Transit station, offering a 24-minute ride to Manhattan. After decades of stalled urban renewal, East Orange’s current administration—led by Mayor Ted Green—activated its Transit Village designation to enable stronger incentives such as PILOTs and tax abatements that finally attracted committed outside capital needed to realize such a large-scale vision. A complex financing structure, involving 24 distinct funding sources across federal, state, and municipal programs—including NMTCs, LIHTC equity, and local redevelopment bonds—made Phase I possible.

Strong design intent shapes the master plan—a pedestrian-first “urban village” connecting Main Street to the Brick Church Train Station. Thoroughly reimagined from a 1985-era inward-facing mall, the Crossings thoughtfully restores street-facing storefronts, creates programmable public spaces, and layers both national anchor tenants and incubated local food hall concepts to recapture over $1 billion in annual retail leakage. The project is driven by a clear urban renewal ethos: pairing mixed-income housing with food access, job creation, and inclusive placemaking to serve both existing residents and future generations.