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The Plainfield City Council has approved a $57 million project to develop a 186,000-square-foot medical arts complex and 120 luxury residential apartments in the city.The project will be development by Muhlenberg Urban Renewal, an affiliate of Community Healthcare Associates in Bloomfield. The project will redevelop Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center (MRMC), a 355-bed facility which closed in August 2008, roughly one year after MRMC merged with JFK Medical Center in neighboring Edison to form Solaris Health System.

Construction is expected to begin in the middle of this year and is expected to create 200 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs. The new facility will include primary and specialty care, a women’s health center, a diagnostic laboratory, an ambulatory surgical center, a pharmacy, a sleep center, a breast center, oncology, diabetes counseling, behavioral health, home health care agency and physical therapy. 

It is also expected to generate $10 million in benefits to Plainfield in the form of Community Benefit Payments and PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) payments over the term reached between the City of Plainfield and the developer.

The residential component will feature a fitness center, business center, bike storage and a rooftop terrace for its 39 one-bedroom and 81 two-bedroom residents. The units themselves will have amenities such as fireplaces, marble countertops and high-end furnishings.

“Muhlenberg Hospital was an integral part of the Plainfield community for decades,” said Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp in a release. “The project that emerged and is now set to begin will not only bring much needed medical services back to our community, it also will provide an important boost to the local economy.”

The developer has agreed to respect the historical character of the existing hospital and integrate key architectural elements into its adaptive reuse of the facility.