Bridgeview, Arts District plans to be presented

Presentations for two proposed developments could formally come before the Redevelopment Agency next month.

Two developers have requested to make presentations to the Redevelopment Agency at its next monthly meeting on Nov. 4. “If developers have them prepared, we should have those on for the November meeting,” Executive Director Robert Landolfi said in his report to commissioners during the Redevelopment Agency’s brief, monthly meeting on Oct. 7, which took place via Zoom.

“We’re finally seeing some things loosen up after the initial COVID wave and initial stoppage some of the new construction experienced,” Landolfi said.

UPDATED, 10/31: The Nov. 4 meeting has been canceled and likely will be rescheduled for Nov. 18, Landolfi said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Also at the November meeting, it’s expected that commissioners could have a new redevelopment agreement to approve for The Brownstones.

One of the presentations is expected to be Bridgeview, a two-building complex that would comprise 174 units across the Rahway River from downtown. In 2017, Tesla Development presented a concept plan that would encompass five existing lots along Clarkson Place, Essex, Monroe and Bridge streets, and adjacent to a PSE&G substation. Developers would have to acquire five lots totaling 1.8 acres.

The concept plan called for a building with 110 units along Bridge Street and Clarkson Place and another with 64 units along Essex Street. The entire complex would consist of about 60 percent one-bedroom units and 40 percent two-bedroom units, with some versions of a studio. Ground-floor parking was proposed at 140 spaces — 77 spaces in one building and 34 in the other — in addition to 29 surface spaces between the two buildings.

More recently, City Council accepted the Arts District Redevelopment Plan in June. The Arts District redevelopment area runs from Seminary Avenue to Elizabeth Avenue between Irving and Main streets, and encompasses Central Avenue and Hamilton Street.

In the concept designed by Red Bank-based Heyer, Gruel, and Associates, there would be 136 residential units, including 44 units at the former St. Mark’s Church property, and 16 townhouses along Gordon Place and Seminary Avenue. Robert D’Anton of AST Development — the firm behind Reva Rahway — is expected to present plans to the Redevelopment Agency.