The city will have three lots appraised in the heart of downtown, adjacent to several city-owned parcels, where there have been efforts over the years to create a pocket park and performance space.
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.City Council approved a resolution (AR-140-23) during its meeting on June 12 awarding an $8,000 contract to McNerney & Associates to appraise three lots in and around East Cherry Street (tax assessment in parentheses):
- Block 317, Lot 9 / Lewis Street ($65,700)
- Block 317, Lot 10 / Lewis Street ($28,000)
- Block 317, Lot 13 / 41-51 E. Cherry St. ($394,000)
All three lots are adjacent to city-owned parcels (outlined in red below): Lot 14, the former New Era building that most recently housed The Cherry Pit before it was razed, and Lot 15 (formerly 65 E. Cherry St.), which was razed in 2011 after a fire several years earlier left it dormant.
Public Relations Coordinator William George said the appraisals are related to the city’s plans to create a pocket park and performance space. He said the city is looking to acquire the two undeveloped lots and only “a portion of Lot 13 but not the building.”
Together, the three lots (outlined in yellow below) are assessed for a total $487,700, generating a total tax bill of almost $35,000. The vast majority 
of that comes from Lot 13, which is home to a three-story, mixed-used building with 12 apartments and ground-floor retail that extends to the corner of East Cherry and Irving streets. The building was acquired in June 2019 for $2.5 million by Millstone-based Cherry Street Realty, LLC, according to property records. The single-purpose LLC is an entity of Penn Properties Management Company, which has purchased about a dozen apartment buildings in the city over the last few years, totaling more than 200 units.
The previous owner of the 41-51 E. Cherry St. building, West Orange-based Tamarand Realty, in 2015 had proposed a concept for 43 units in a 5-story building would have been a blend of new construction on the now-vacant lot where the New Era building once stood. That building had been acquired in 2015 by the Parking Authority, which was dissolved in 2018.
Glen Rock-based McNerney & Associates also was awarded a $5,500 contract last summer to appraise the four lots on Esterbrook Avenue that the city plans to acquire for a senior housing project.
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