Think Linc: New Linc52 Condos & Licnc32 Rentals Live at Orange Station!

By Patricia Rogers

On a random chaotic Sunday evening at Hat City Kitchen, the phone rings.  Brit and I have a football-watching crowd at the bar.  It is Kirsten Risko on the phone.  She informed me that she was a part of 810 Creative, the marketing team for the new Linc properties being built off of Orange train station.  I recalled seeing the construction when I was coming in from New York City.  Back at Hat City Kitchen the chaos in the room ceased for me, when she said that she needed someone to give her and her videographer a tour of what is cool in Orange, New Jersey.

I enthusiastically told her that I was the woman for the job.  If anyone knew what was cool in Orange, or at least the Valley Arts District, it was me.  We made a plan to meet at Luna Stage a couple days later.  John Penn Lewis gave us a tour of Luna Stage in a way I had not seen before.  I gave her a tour of the neighborhood, down Valley, Forest, Tompkins and S Jefferson streets.  I took her past the old home to ORNG Ink (Ironworks), Arts Unbound, the Firehouse Gallery, the new Era Artist Collective space and more, always giving her a little bit of information from what I have learned being a part of the community.

I wanted to express to Kirsten that I was someone who was not trying to sell the Valley and all its happenings because it was my day job.  I was someone who was young, moved to the Valley Arts District as a working artist from New York City.  I lived and commuted to Orange.  I have also worked here in many different capacities with involvement with many different artists and organizations.  I was informing Kirsten of a lifestyle.

Most importantly, I conveyed the culture of the Valley that I lived and breathed.  A culture that was fresh and one of its kind.  The people that would be moving into the Linc properties would be a part of that.  I like to think I did a good job of selling the Valley Arts District because she will be moving to Orange, from Brooklyn, this year!

RPM Development's Linc32 and Linc52 properties are located off Orange train station.  In what has become known as the NJ Transit Village concept, Linc52 Condos & Linc32 Rentals offer commuters two living options along the NJ Transit’s highly popular Morris & Essex line. [1]

Linc52, featuring 24 condominiums, and Linc32 luxury rental apartments are designed to complement the fabric of the neighborhood.  There are the modern amenities including resident lounge, fitness center and landscaped courtyard. And for commuters it is close to the train station that gets you to Manhattan in thirty minutes.

After receiving an exclusive tour of the Linc32 building, I had a good feeling about what this can do to Orange.  The décor, art and design of the building reminds me of a building I would see in New York.  I can see the commuter living a convenient and trendy lifestyle living in this building.  This can bring a completely cosmopolitan vibe to Orange with the Valley Arts District as the hub.

You can come home from work and then go see a show at Luna Stage, art opening at the Firehouse Gallery, or have a delicious meal at Southern Comfort Cafe.  Invite your friends from New York for a live performance on the weekends at Hat City Kitchen.

In 2011, I began working with AmeriCorps VISTA at HANDS, Inc.  I was still living in New York at the time and would commute via New Jersey Transit.  After getting more involved with ORNG Ink, I moved to the Valley and had a part-time job in New York.  My family still lives there, too, so I am always commuting.

For culture hounds like me, it is refreshing to have the best of both worlds.  When I want the business of the city, I can hop on the train, but then you can experience the unique arts events in the Valley Arts District.  I think my brand Masconsumption and its events reflect that mix.  I have the soul of a New Yorker, first and foremost, but see a lot in this growing arts district.

I loved the layout of the apartments.  The curved hallway was cool and the color scheme.  I could see families, single, young people and married couples creating a life there.  The views out into the courtyard will be beautiful.  There are singles, and duplexes, that are to die for.  All with tall windows, and nice kitchens.

Everyone is reading and hearing about how expensive Brooklyn has become.  Like in a very ridiculous way. [2]  Where is that home for the new wave of millennials looking to make their mark?  Now there’s that option, move to Orange.  There is a surge in Orange pride thanks to projects like Reverse Archeology, I-280 in Orange, RADICAL: Orange and Valley Arts' continued efforts to engage the community through the arts.

There has also been a rise in, dare I say, "trendy" Jersey neighborhoods.  Yes, there is the Ironbound in Newark, Maplewood, and Montclair.  I even read an article where realtors coined Maplewood and South Orange, “New Jersey’s Brooklyn West.” [3]  This is amusing to me.  As a prideful New Yorker, I do not take comparisons like that seriously.  But it does demonstrate that the time is now for the Garden State.  We are on the cusp of a cultural rise, and New Jersey may finally get from under New York’s shadow.  Maybe. 

Attention New Yorkers!  New Jersey is not that far.  The convenience of living near the Highland Avenue and Orange train station makes it a lot easier.  There are a lot of talks of the redevelopment of the Highland Avenue train station.  Linc residents can take a 15-minute stroll to the Valley or hop on the train.  I did it all the time when I was leaving HANDS on S Essex, to Ironworks on Tompkins Street in the Valley.  The valley is beautiful in the spring and summer.

There so many different things to do and places to go.  In addition to Luna Stage theater, Firehouse Gallery, and Hat City Kitchen there is: Southern Comfort Café, Pink Cupcakes, Marafanyi West African drum workshops, ValleyArts residencies at the Creative Co-op, Era Artist Collective, University of Orange, Brews and Brushes events and so much more.  There are always new happenings to get into here. 

Find out more information about the Linc properties, developed by RPM Development. Read more about RPM here.

Watch the teaser video, Live at Orange Station: 

Find out more information about New Jersey’s Valley Arts District at https://masconsumption.wordpress.com/

[1] RPM Development Unveils Two Properties at Orange Station press release

[2] Brooklyn Most Expensive Place to Live in the U.S.: Bloomberg

[3] N.J.’s ‘Brooklyn West’ Suburbs Drawing NYC Residents

About the Writer

Patricia Rogers, #ValleyGirlNJ lives in New Jersey's Valley Arts District. The native New Yorker works as a writer, blogger and community activist. Starting Masconsumption Media in 2012 she has been passionate about capturing the stories of the vibrant up and coming Valley Arts District neighborhood through her blog, zine, events and more. She blogs for Jersey Indie, Luna Stage, Hat City Kitchen and offers many creative media services.