LIVE + WORK + PLAY is the theme of a new Westfield mixed-use development.
Lantern Commons is a 60-acre development in the northeast quadrant of 161st Street and U.S. 31. The groundbreaking is set for Nov. 1.
“The residential component of the project, which Front Street Partners will be building, is defined,” said Gary Perel, principal and senior director of retail with ALO Property Group. “They are building 300-plus high-end residential multifamily (structures) on the site. That will be the first component of the project.”
Tom English Real Estate will build 30,000 square feet of retail space on the southeast corner of the project, where the new roundabout the City of Westfield has planned at 161st Street and Union Street.
“We’re working on that now and we hope to make announcements about high-end restaurant users for that site very shortly,” Perel said. “Being able to have Tom English Real Estate involved with the retail component of Lantern Commons is a huge win for the overall project. Their experience, creativity and relationships with retail tenants is exactly what Front Street Partners is looking for.”
Matt Worthley, development associate with Tom English Real Estate, will develop the retail corridor, while Perel will handle the leasing.
“The (planned unit development) was zoned for a big-boxed retail center, so we had to go in and reconfigure the entire zoning to what we thought the city would want,” Perel said. “They wanted a mixed development.”
Front Street Partners is installing the residential and road infrastructure and utilities, Perel said.
The other components, including senior housing, office, retail and hotels and corporate hotels, will be developed by other developers, Perel said.
“As the project continues to evolve and we are in contact with other developers about those various parcels, we’ll be able to make announcements about that timeline,” Perel said. “We are in talks with several senior living developers as well as a number of hotels. We’re also in conversations with several office developers.”
Perel said by early third quarter in 2022, the goal is to have the residential and retail portions completed.
