A decade of decay is finally ending for one mall in Raritan, New Jersey.
Raritan Mall, a dying strip mall that has sat mostly vacant since 2016, was approved for demolition. The property will be transformed into a mixed-use development with 276 apartments. It marks yet another retail casualty as the state looks to repurpose collapsing retail into a solution to New Jersey’s housing shortage.
The Raritan Borough Planning Board voted 6-2 to approve the redevelopment project last week, ending years of stalled efforts. The 70-foot building will feature 276 rental apartments, including 42 affordable units as part of New Jersey’s affordable housing requirements, plus 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space on the 10.88-acre site in Somerset County.
The approval represents a broader pattern seen across the state: as traditional shopping centers become economically unviable with the domination of online retail, developers are converting them into residential spaces. It’s seen as a necessary solution to New Jersey’s housing crisis.
The Retail Apocalypse Hits Home
Raritan Mall’s decline mirrors a collapse of retail seen across the nation. Built in the 1980s on a former landfill, the strip mall once bustled with up to 15 storefronts. When its anchor tenant, Stop & Shop, closed in 2016, the site’s fate was sealed.
The causes are familiar: Amazon and other online retailers decimated foot traffic. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the collapse by forcing shoppers home. Inflation and economic pressure caused households to cut discretionary spending.
The mall was also seen as beyond saving. Vandalism, broken glass, mold, loose nails, flood damage, and more scattered the space, according to NJ.com.
For a decade, the site remained visible proof that the shopping mall boom from the 1980s through the 2000s had ended.
Housing Necessity Drives Conversion
The decline of retail across New Jersey is only part of the story. Raritan Mall’s redevelopment reflects something larger than retail’s failure—it highlights New Jersey’s urgent need for housing, and specifically, affordable housing.
The state is legally required to add more than 146,000 affordable units by 2035. Individual municipalities have specific quotas. For example, Raritan Borough must build 99 affordable units over the next decade.
Housing developments can’t materialize fast enough for New Jersey residents crushed under an inaccessible housing market. And vacant retail sites offer tailor-made opportunities. Converting a deteriorating mall into mixed-use housing with ground-floor retail spaces kills two birds with one stone: it removes blight while simultaneously addressing the state’s desperate housing shortage.
The Raritan project will include 42 affordable units—just under half of the borough’s mandate.
Complications Remain
The approval was anything but seamless. The Raritan Borough Council rejected an earlier version in 2024 over density and traffic concerns. The property owner subsequently filed a $100 million lawsuit alleging conflict of interest before withdrawing it in February 2025.
Environmental concerns also play a role in the stalling. The site sits in a flood zone near the Raritan River, which supplies drinking water to millions. During Hurricane Ida in 2021, the property was partially submerged. Nearby residents have voiced concerns about contamination risks during demolition because of this.
Developers testified they secured a flood hazard permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Additional approvals are still required before construction begins.
A Necessary Transformation
Raritan Mall’s conversion represents a new reality in New Jersey.
The retail era has ended, and housing shortages demand adaptive solutions. Zombie malls scattered across the state offer opportunities to address both problems simultaneously.
For communities like Raritan, the transformation from retail wasteland to housing development represents necessity meeting opportunity. The question is whether other struggling malls across the state will follow suit before they become unfixable liabilities.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.