Ratables For Montclair?

The old Gibbs College house, built in 1877 on Plymouth Street, may morph into swanky professional and medical office space - on the interior, at least. Local real estate tycoon Jay Schweppe and philanthropist/ex Wall Streeter Bob Silver the faces of Cadbury Properties LLC, submitted a preliminary proposal for the building's rehab last week to Montclair's planning office. From The Star Ledger:

Silver has been involved in "adaptive reuse" projects, mostly recently 105 Grove St., a onetime brassworks converted into an art gallery. This time, the old school is to be converted into 19,000 square feet of commercial space, with 3,500 square feet dedicated to medical offices.

"The bones are so great," he said of the old school. "We decided to totally leave the building in place."

The proposal, which probably won't get a public unveiling until hearings this summer, is a switch from a few months ago, when the developers were floating the idea of townhouses or condominiums at the prime location just outside Montclair's central business district.

The developers would need a use variance from the board of adjustment, since offices are not a permitted use in the residential zone. The property straddles R-1 and R-4 zones but is also near an office zone.