Life around Roselle

What's new in town

Roselle is investing in its own future

Roselle is in the middle of an active redevelopment push, all of it publicly documented. The Chestnut Street Streetscape Improvement Project, described by TAPinto Roselle as a "major step forward in Roselle's downtown revitalization," began in 2026 with ADA-compliant sidewalks and curb ramps, and a $2 million federal allocation is tied to Chestnut Street corridor improvements including modernized facades and new businesses (Union News Daily). Along the St. George Avenue corridor, a residential project of about 195 units at Spruce and Warren streets has been approved; per Borough Ordinance 2775-25, about 10% of those units are set aside as affordable housing alongside roughly 3,200 square feet of retail (eCode360). The Edison, a 195-unit apartment-and-retail project on St. Georges Avenue, broke ground in July 2025 (TAPinto Roselle). In October 2026 the borough said it is advancing the next phase of the corridor work, including facade-improvement grants of up to $25,000 for existing St. George Avenue businesses under Roselle's Urban Enterprise Zone (TAPinto Roselle, October 15, 2026). The borough's renovated library, a $17 million project, reopened in fall 2024. Most recently, TAPinto Roselle reported on October 19, 2026, that Rose Homes has two new two-family duplex homes under construction on Chandler Avenue, with seven more homes in its pipeline, expanding affordable homeownership options in the borough (TAPinto Roselle, October 19, 2026). The borough also received a $42,980 Clean Communities grant from the New Jersey DEP (TAPinto Roselle). Even the borough council chambers are getting attention: council meetings currently take place at the Roselle Memorial Library while the chambers are renovated (Borough of Roselle). On the community-engagement side, Mayor Donald Shaw's "Block Tour" brings borough officials directly into neighborhoods for on-the-street conversations with residents, part of an effort to keep the community in the loop as these changes land (Borough of Roselle). Two community items joined the borough's programming this year and were still active as of this refresh (October 27, 2026, Borough of Roselle): a newly formed Youth Council that gives Roselle teens a seat in local government, and a free weekly R&B Night at Roselle City Hall, 210 Chestnut Street, every Thursday evening.