Union Approves 113-Apartment Downtown Building
Retailers and service firms serving downtown Union should plan for a larger customer base as phased construction adds homes and shops.
Updated on Nov. 1, 2026 in Construction
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Union Township's planning board approved a six-story mixed-use building with 113 apartments and about 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail in downtown Union, N.J. The project is part of Landmark's Centurion Union Center development at Stuyvesant and Morris avenues, and is expected to frame a new public plaza.
Why it matters
The approval adds residential units and street-level retail to a dense commercial corridor, so local retailers, contractors and service providers should expect more foot traffic and demand as the phases come online. The development is being built in stages, so its pace will shape near-term leasing and construction-sector activity in the area.
The approved building adds 113 apartments, 143 structured parking spaces and about 10,000 square feet of retail, while the full Centurion Union Center is projected to reach 472 residences and 45,000 square feet of retail. Against the 267 rental residences and 15,000 occupied retail square feet already in place, the planned buildout represents a substantial expansion of the development.
The players
Landmark
Landmark is the developer behind Centurion Union Center, a multi-building mixed-use project in Union, N.J.
MHS Architecture
MHS Architecture is the firm that designed the newly approved mixed-use building in the Centurion Union Center development.
Melillo Bauer Carman Landscape Architecture
Melillo Bauer Carman Landscape Architecture is the landscape design firm that designed the 24,000-square-foot public plaza.
The details
The 24,000-square-foot landscaped plaza will be bordered by the newly approved building and a second mixed-use building under construction. Shops and restaurants on the ground floor will open onto the plaza, with a 10-foot-wide area reserved for outdoor dining and pedestrian activity. A landscaped passageway will link the plaza to a public parking garage recently completed as part of the project, letting visitors reach the plaza without walking along Morris Avenue.
Timeline
The 92-residence building under construction is expected to be completed in 2027.
Market Landscape
The approval extends Landmark's Centurion Union Center, which is being built in phases that combine apartments, retail and a structured parking garage in one downtown block. Multi-phase projects of this kind add residential density and ground-floor retail in stages, so the leasing pace of each phase tends to determine how quickly the surrounding commercial base grows.
Contractors, retailers and service businesses in downtown Union should factor in a larger customer base as the new apartments and ground-floor shops come online, though the timing of each phase remains unannounced. Firms bidding on related work should plan around a multi-year, staged build-out rather than a single completion date.
The takeaway
Downtown development in phases means demand arrives in steps, so businesses should track each phase's construction start and leasing dates before committing to new space or capacity. Watch the 2027 completion of the 92-residence building as the next concrete signal of how quickly the broader Centurion Union Center buildout is moving.
Further reading
For broader context on how projects like this move from approval to build-out, see the Construction coverage on We are Main Street.
Source note: This article includes information reported by NJ.
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