The 2025 Livingston Mall Community Visioning Project began on Monday evening, March 17, with a kick-off presentation and hand-on visioning workshop at the Livingston Senior/Community Center. More than 100 residents attended the first in a series of community discussions about what should be done with the Livingston Mall property.
This presentation aimed to help participants learn about the project, market realities, the ground rules of the visioning sessions, and the principles for creating great places in communities.
“This is a process for one important piece of property,” said Phil Abramson, CEO of Topology, the planner leading this series of discussions in town. “The mall is becoming more and more forgotten and vacant... it’s a pretty sad state of affairs.”
Abramson said that a redevelopment plan would designate new zoning for the mall, and these discussions would help dictate the specifics of that zoning.
“Asuccessful development will be some form of compromise (between the community, developers, andothers),” he said.
Working in small groups, participants identifiedissues, opportunities, and constraints. They also drew their ideas onto an aerial photo of the site using pens and colored markers. At the end of the session, groups shared their vision with all of those in attendance.
Subsequent days included open design studio and framework pinup sessions onTuesday and Wednesday. Community members were invited to drop into the studio - where the Community Visioning Team is working - view progress, ask questions, and share input with the team. Two more of these sessions will be held today, Thursday, from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
The week will conclude with a “work in progress” session fromnoon to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 22. That presentation will detail the working version of the conceptual vision plan for the proj ect. The presentation will include an illustrative master plan and three-dimensional and digital images illustrating the potential for the future of the mall site.
According to information on the township’s website, the goal of this final presentation is to ensure that the concept in progress effectively reflects the vision crafted over the week’s community sessions. Those in attendance at this meeting will be able to provide additional feedback before the Visioning Team continues to work on the plan.
The presentation from that meeting, which will show a rough plan for the site based on all of the feedback, will also be available to view online.
Residents may also share their thoughts through an online survey at surveylegend.eom/s/5wqq. More information is available about the 2025 Livingston Mall Community Visioning Proj ect at livingstonnj .org/ MallMeetings.
Mall and Project Background The Livingston Mall openedmore thanhalfa century ago, in 1972.1nits heyday, it was a vibrant cornerstone of the community, a destination that brought people together and was home to decades of memories. But, like so many other malls, it has been in steep decline over the past decade, as the pandemic, e-commerce, and changing customer preferences have left it a shadow of what it once was.
Faced with shuttered anchor stores, declining patronage, and growing maintenance issues, the township deemed the mall as an “Area in Need of Redevelopment” in October of 2024.
Community Meetings
The hope is that the community will now help decide what those 60 acres will become for the next half century through this series of meetings. The idea, Mayor Ed Meinhardt says, is to take what is heard at the meetings and use the survey results and the community input to present a plan for the space to a potential developer down the line. The information sessions will also inform residents about the cost of potential projects on the property, such as commercial, retail, residential, and experiential offerings.
At minimum, 376 residential units will be constructed on the Searsowned section of the property, per an agreement the town reached with Fair Share Housing. The Township Council could choose to permit more units on the site if doing so was deemed beneficial, but they will not be forced to build any more than that 376 figure, per the agreement. Within those hundreds of units, however, there is still the opportunity for the community to decide what the appearance should include, and the types and look of materials used for the buildings. The township survey, for example, provides several renderings of a potential housing complex, allowing residents to select the options they find most appealing.
And while housing will be a component of the property, there will be many other opportunities to use the space, which the town can request that prospective builders include as a part of an agreement to construct their housing complex. These options could include retail shops, restaurants, municipal facilities, experiential opportunities, and parks.
