What you will find
The 10.8-square-mile township is bisected by Interstate 287 and is divided into two communities: Whippany, 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 homes and lots are also somewhat larger. Still, Hanover’s housing is relatively homogeneous, consisting of split-level homes, homes with raised ranches, and extensive Cape Cods, most built between the 1950s and 1970s, with a few pockets of newer homes and a few townhouses and apartment complexes.
“You don’t see big properties in Hanover, and you don’t get anything new here,” said Ryan Bruen, 36, a real estate agent at Coldwell Banker. “When you move to Hanover, you kind of know what you’re going to get.”
Most commercial activity takes place along Whippany Road and busy Route 10, where large retail chains mingle with office parks owned by housing corporations such as MetLife and Bayer. But like many New Jersey suburban communities that expanded after World War II, Hanover has no city center. In 2019, the council wanted to change that by repurposing a former paper mill site along the Whippany River to create River Park Town Center.
Upon completion, the 88-acre site will have 11 residential buildings with 967 residential units; 80,000 square feet of retail space; an amphitheatre; and an extension of the Patriots’ path along the river. The first 81 luxury apartments, in a building called 34 Eden, will open this summer, said Kurt Vierheilig, DMR Architects’ design director, who was responsible for the design, and completion is expected to take four years.
