What You’ll Find
Bisected by Interstate 287, the 10.8-square-mile township is divided into two communities: Whippany, to the east of the highway, and Cedar Knolls, to the west. Those are the names most residents use when asked where they live.
Most of the larger parks are in Whippany, where houses and lots tend to be a bit larger, too. Still, Hanover’s housing is relatively homogeneous, comprising split-levels, raised-ranch houses and expanded Cape Cods, most built from the 1950s to 1970s, with a few pockets of newer homes and some townhouse and apartment complexes.
“You don’t see huge properties in Hanover, and you’re not getting anything new around here,” said Ryan Bruen, 36, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker. “When you move to Hanover, you kind of know what you’re going to get.”
Most commercial activity is along Whippany Road and busy Route 10, where big-box stores mix with office parks housing corporations like MetLife and Bayer. But like many suburban New Jersey communities that expanded after World War II, Hanover has no town center. In 2019, the township set out to change that, rezoning a former paper-mill site along the Whippany River to create River Park Town Center.
When completed, the 88-acre site will have 11 residential buildings with 967 housing units; 80,000 square feet of retail space; an amphitheater; and an extension of the Patriots’ Path trail along the river. The first 81 luxury apartments, in a building called 34 Eden, will open this summer, said Kurt Vierheilig, the director of design for DMR Architects, which was responsible for the design, with completion expected to take four years.
