Past Press

Jarmel Kizel Tapped to Design 100,000-SF Mixed-Use Facility in South Orange, NJ

LIVINGSTON, N.J. (August 8, 2011)—Jarmel Kizel Architects and Engineers, Inc., a full-service architecture and engineering firm based in Livingston, New Jersey, has been retained by South Orange Commons III, LLC to design a ground-up mixed-use development in South Orange, New Jersey. When completed, the development will boast 57 one- and two- bedroom rental apartment units, as well as 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The site will also provide commercial parking for retail visitors, as well as private covered, secure parking for residents.

“This is a new concept for the development of this site, and an exciting new project that will breathe life into the community,” said Matthew B. Jarmel, AIA, MBA and principal of Jarmel Kizel. “Our team of architects and engineers is creating plans for South Orange Commons that will assist them in attracting residential tenants looking for convenient access to mass transit, and a variety of shopping, restaurants and banking options, as well as retailers looking for prime retail space.”

The new development is on West South Orange Avenue—previously a Mercedes Benz dealership—and is ideally located in the heart of South Orange adjacent to the South Orange Performing Arts Center, and the South Orange train station which offers a short 28-minute trip to New York City on the Midtown Direct.

Amenities planned for the residential portion of the development include a fitness center, multi-purpose room, children’s recreational room, storage for residential tenants, a two-story lobby with fireplace and café lounge, as well as a rooftop terrace.

“Jarmel Kizel has a great reputation in its industry, and tremendous experience designing multifamily buildings—it made perfect sense to call on the firm to design our project, said Ed Ayuso, a partner of South Orange Commons III.

“Jarmel Kizel provides a full scope of architecture and engineering services in-house, and it is a pleasure to have one point of contact throughout the duration of design and construction. We are pleased to working with their team, as well as all of the other professionals services firms that will help take this project to the next level, surpassing anyone’s expectations for this site,” added Mark Berger, a partner of South Orange Commons III.

For this project, Jarmel Kizel will assist in obtaining all land entitlements, and will provide site/civil engineering as well as architectural, structural and mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering services.


South Orange Commons III is very excited about the opportunity to develop this site that has been vacant for over 12 years. They have assembled a first rate team of professionals that all have many years of expertise in this field. The consultants include Jarmel Kizel Architects and Engineers, Inc.’ the law firm of Nitti & Nitti; Robert A. Williams as the land use attorney; interior designer Natalie Madrachim of Eilata Image, Ltd., and McCarter & English to name a few.

Jarmel Kizel has significant experience in multi-family design projects. The firm’s completed projects in New Jersey include The Thread, a 15-story, 151-unit luxury multifamily building and Hudson Heights, a ten-story, 96-unit condominium building, both in Union City; and Oakwood Homes, a seven-story, 90,000-square-foot residential building in Jersey City, among others.

About Jarmel Kizel Architects & Engineers, Inc.
Headquartered in Livingston, N.J., Jarmel Kizel Architects and Engineers, Inc. is a full-service integrated architecture, engineering, interior design and energy consulting firm serving a distinguished client base of commercial and residential real estate companies, and a myriad of corporations throughout the Northeast.  The company employs registered architects, interior designers, professional engineers, LEED-AP professionals and technical support personnel that provide clients with a single source for all of their facility needs from architectural design, interior design, structural, MEP and civil engineering, to energy solutions and product procurement management services.  For more information, contact the company’s Livingston headquarters at 973.994.9669 or visit www.jarmelkizel.com.