Anyone who drives the Route 46 and Route 10 split in Ledgewood has watched that pad site sit empty for a while now. The Red Lobster sign came down, the parking lot stayed full of nothing but weather, and the "available" banner on the fence became part of the scenery the same way the Walmart and the Chipotle across the lot did. That changes this fall.
Tommy's Tavern & Tap has signed on for a 9,160-square-foot space at Ledgewood Commons, and it's expected to open this fall. It sounds like a small piece of retail news. It isn't. That lease is the first one signed at the 448,000-square-foot shopping center since Urban Edge Properties bought it for $83 million back in May 2024, roughly two years ago, according to reporting from NJBIZ. Two years of ownership, and the pad everyone drives past finally has an answer.
A Two-Year Wait Ends with Wings, Sushi, and a Full Bar
Tommy's Tavern & Tap started in Sea Bright a decade ago, opened by husband-and-wife team Tommy and Yvette Bonfiglio. The Ledgewood location will be its fourteenth across three states and its second in Morris County, following the Morris Plains outpost. The menu runs from coal-fired pizza to sushi to ribs and pasta, backed by a full bar with a craft beer list and a rotating cocktail menu. Urban Edge's director of leasing has said the shopping center's tenant mix made it an easy match, and framed the addition as one that should pull new visitors into a center anchored by Walmart, Marshalls, Ulta, Starbucks, and Chipotle.
For residents of Ledgewood, Succasunna, and the surrounding villages, the practical upshot is simple: one more full-service sit-down option lands at the intersection everyone already passes through on the way to everything else.
Why the Timing Isn't a Coincidence, Even Though Nobody Planned It That Way
Here's the part that makes this fall worth circling on a calendar rather than just noting in passing. Roxbury Township has spent all of 2025 and 2026 working through a yearlong slate of programming tied to America's 250th anniversary, and three of the biggest entries left on that calendar land inside the next five weeks, the same stretch Tommy's is targeting for its opening.
That means a resident who's been meaning to check out Main Street Succasunna, catch the season's last big show at the Citizens Bank Theater, or finally walk through the King House doesn't have to pick one weekend and let the rest slide. They land back to back, from mid-September into early October:
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| September 19 | Olde Suckasunny Day street fair | Main Street, Succasunna |
| September 26 | Hocus Pocus Halloween, interactive dinner-theater catered by Joe's Pizzeria & Restaurant | Citizens Bank Theater (advance tickets only, sales close September 12) |
| October 3 to 4 | Pathways of History tours: King House, King Canal Store, Silas Riggs Saltbox House, Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum | Main Street, Ledgewood, and Landing |
That's according to the Township of Roxbury's official 250th anniversary calendar and the Roxbury Arts Alliance's event listings. Three dated entries inside five weeks is a heavier stretch than most falls bring, and it happens to land in the same window Tommy's is targeting for its opening.
Two Main Streets, One Township
If you've ever wondered why the town's historical markers and its street fair don't seem to sit in the same place, there's a real answer, and it goes back further than any of this year's programming.
Roxbury Township was chartered on December 24, 1740, when the colonial legislature designated a tract of land deeded by the Lenape to British mining interests as one municipality. That single charter eventually absorbed what became Succasunna, Ledgewood, Landing, Kenvil, Port Morris, and Berkshire Valley, according to the history published on the Roxbury Public Library's historic walking tour page. Those were separate villages first and a township second, and the map still shows it.
The King Canal Store and King Home Museum sit at 209 to 211 Main Street in Ledgewood, run by the Roxbury Historic Trust. Two doors down at 213 Main Street, the Roxbury Township Historical Society operates the Silas Riggs Saltbox House, a structure dating to the Revolutionary War. Both are normally open only on the second Sunday of the month, April through December, which is what makes the October 3 to 4 Pathways of History weekend worth noting: it's an added set of open hours, not the usual monthly window. This year's tour also folds in the Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum in Landing, tying the Ledgewood stop to the lake further north.
Meanwhile Olde Suckasunny Day, the book sale, and the historic walking tour of Succasunna's Main Street all happen on a different street entirely, clustered around the library and First Presbyterian Church. Ledgewood Commons, where Tommy's is opening, sits on the commercial spine connecting the two, right at the Routes 46 and 10 junction. It's not that Roxbury has one Main Street and a confusing name for it. It has two, because it used to be six towns, and this fall's calendar happens to walk you down both of them.
The Practical Stuff, If You're Actually Going
A few details worth having before any of these land on your calendar:
- Olde Suckasunny Day parking is available at St. Therese Church, Lincoln/Roosevelt School, and Franklin School, since Main Street itself closes to through traffic for the fair.
- The September 26 Hocus Pocus Halloween dinner show requires advance tickets. Ticket sales close September 12, and none will be sold at the door.
- The King House, King Canal Store, and Silas Riggs Saltbox House are normally locked outside their second-Sunday hours, so the October weekend is genuinely the easiest time to see all three without waiting for the right Sunday to line up.
- Horseshoe Lake Beach, where the theater and much of the recreation complex sit, is a membership beach. Day passes are limited to Roxbury residents with proof of residency, though members can bring guests regardless of where those guests live, per the township's beach rules. If any of these events run long and you want a quieter stretch of afternoon, the walking and biking path around the lake connects toward Chester Township and is open to anyone, membership or not.
What This Fall Actually Adds Up To
None of this is a coincidence dressed up as a story. It's a shopping center finally filling its longest-vacant storefront in the same season the township happens to be running its heaviest run of anniversary programming in years, and the two events happen to sit at opposite ends of the same map that's been in place since 1740. If you live in Succasunna, Ledgewood, Landing, Kenvil, Port Morris, or Berkshire Valley, this is the stretch to actually use the calendar rather than let it scroll by.
Doug Tucker and the rest of The Tucker Team have spent years watching Morris County towns like Roxbury change one lease and one anniversary event at a time. When you're ready to talk about what any of that means for your own home, whether you're weighing a move or just curious what your house is worth in today's market, reach out and get your home valuation. We'll give you a straight answer, the same way we'd want one ourselves.
