Presentations for two proposed developments could formally come before the Redevelopment Agency next month.
Continue reading Bridgeview, Arts District plans to be presented
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Site for artist housing under contract
The Redevelopment Agency has entered into a contract for the purchase of the Elizabethtown Gas Building, where affordable housing for artists is planned. About 60 units are planned for the 219 Central Ave. site.
A contract was entered into in December and a redevelopment agreement is being drafted, Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier told the Redevelopment Agency at its meeting last month. The Redevelopment Agency in May authorized the acquisition for $1 million, with $400,000 held in escrow for remediation.
The final redevelopment agreement will address typical issues plus certain funding and financing issues, according to Redevelopment Agency attorney Frank Regan, who said the sale was executed Dec. 6.
The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) last year was replaced on the project by TRF Development Partners, a nonprofit support organization of The Reinvestment Fund. The redevelopment team now includes Crawford Street Partners, Ingerman Development Corp
., and TRF Development Partners.
AFHDC’s parent organization, The Actors Fund, wanted to redirect its financial resources toward the delivery of social services and is “best positioned to champion projects through public promotion and marketing assistance,” according to Steve Burns of Crawford Street Partners.
TRF Development Partners has developed City Arts in Baltimore, Md., a 69-unit tax credit project plus 15 market townhomes for sale and rent, and is currently raising funds for City Arts 2, a 62-unit building with 12 market rate townhomes, Burns said.
The New Jersey Multiple Housing Financing Agency (NJMHFA) is expected to release draft regulations for the 2014 Low Income Housing Tax Credit programs and once those are published, the development team will “be in a position to form a strategy and timetable for securing financing,” Pelissier said.
Approvals by the NJHMFA for the tax credits and financing could come during the first quarter of this year, and once construction financing is closed, construction could begin several weeks after that.
New plan for former Koza’s Bar site
Five years after a plan to build nine condominium units was approved for the former Koza’s Bar property, a new proposal seeks to construct 12 rental apartments. The Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled to hear the new application at its meeting Monday at 7 p.m.
Plan for Mangos shifts farther down Fulton
A plan for 88 rental apartments centered around the Mangos Grill property has been revised to move the project off the corner of East Milton Avenue and farther south on Fulton Street.
Beana’s Mexican gets two stars
The Star-Ledger/nj.com on Friday had a review of Beana’s Para Siempre restaurant on St. Georges Avenue. (Para siempre, by the way, means “forever” in Spanish; I had to look it up).
Of course, one of the first things mentioned is the decor (which really is one of a kind):
“You’d shriek if you stumbled onto this restaurant along a dusty stretch of Route 66, pulling out your camera to document your touristy luck to your disbelieving friends. The place is thoroughly fun and kitschy, its walls crammed with 70-year-old license plates, sombreros, commemorative dishware, velvet paintings of bullfights and countless crosses, lizards and chili pepper lights.”
Not sure what it says about a review that spends so much time waxing about Census figures and decor though. In the end, Bean’s got two stars through the appetizers (chorizo, flaky empanadas) seemed to be a bigger hit than the entrees (standbys that you’d expect), and there were some drawbacks: “The kitchen is too cozy with salt, even for those who consider salt a friend. The salsa disappoints, and service is inconsistent. And no, you can’t order a margarita.” (Always good to have BYO options though.)
“Beana’s is fun, and perhaps offers a taste of what’s to come: an ever-evolving mashup of Mexican and American, even if that means the quite unexpected…”
At last count, there were more than 50 reviews aggregated on the restaurant’s Google listing, coming through Yelp, Urban Spoon, Yahoo! and others. What do you think?
Almost $42k in property taxes canceled
Almost $42,000 in property taxes have been canceled for 2011 in connection with redevelopment projects downtown and the Arts District.
Capodagli designated redeveloper
A month after being presented with a conceptual plan for a 116-unit rental complex behind Rahway Public Library, the Redevelopment Agency designated Capodagli Property Company as redeveloper at its meeting on May 4.
Dornoch declared in default
The Redevelopment Agency this month declared Dornoch Holdings in default of its redevelopment agreements on The Westbury and The Savoy, which has entered the foreclosure process with Wachovia Bank/Wells Fargo for failure to repay construction financing.