Developers of the project proposed at the former Wheatena factory at Elizabeth and West Grand avenues are scheduled to meet with city officials this week.
All posts by rahwayrising
Catching up on some reading
I’m a little late with this but in case you missed last Sunday’s Ledger, here’s their story about Union County home sales in the first half of 2009. It was a county-by-county breakdown of a larger project, “N.J. real estate bust hits urban home sales the hardest.”
Compared to the first half of 2008, “prices dipped 8 percent” in Union County, with only Elizabeth, Fanwood and Springfield seeing more home sales during the first half of this year compared to the same time in 2008. Berkeley Heights (0%) and Scotch Plains (7%) were the lone towns to see median home prices remain the same or rise over last year, and nine towns saw double-digit declines. Only Summit (2%) was up last year over 2005 median prices.
For Rahway, the analysis indicated a median price of $267,000 this year, compared to $307,500 last year (-13%) and $281,000 in 2005 (-5%). Those figures were still good enough to rank Rahway among the top third among the 21 Union County towns in both years, matching Clark and Mountainside in 2008.
The number of home sales was down 18 percent in Rahway for the first half of this year, which was about the ninth lowest rate within the county.
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I also came across this New York Times piece yesterday. It talked about “municipal governments and arts groups pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into larger, flashier exhibit spaces and performance halls,” believing it was “the answer to what ailed cities everywhere — a way to lure tour
ists and economic development — and a potential boon to cultural institutions.”
The specific projects mentioned are of a much larger scale and in some cases very different, but it did bring to mind the $6-million expansion and acquisition of the local arts center by Union County, which also was pushed in part by the idea of spurring economic development earlier this decade.
The most provocative quote came from a senior fellow at the University of Chicago studying these projects: “These were situations in which ‘nobody actually asked: Is there a need here? If they build it, will they come?'”
City’s assessed value up $25 million
The city’s assessed value rose by $25.3 million this year, up about 1.67 percent to $1.546 billion. That translates into roughly $1.2 million in property tax revenue. The bulk of the increase came from Carriage City Plaza Properties (CCP), assessed at around $19 million, and paying $978,000 in property taxes.
[12/12 update: Got an email from a rep at Silcon saying the Carriage City Plaza project is responsible for the entire additional $1.2 million in property tax revenue; $978,000 from Carriage City Properties + property taxes paid by individual unit owners. Trying to get some clarification from the city tax office, probably come Monday].
[12/15 CLARIFICATION: According to the city tax office, Carriage City Properties and the individual condo units — both sold and unsold — were assessed at a combined $24,146,600 ($5,414,500 for sold units + $18,732,100 for CCP portions and unsold units) and paid property taxes of approximately $1,182,941.94 ($265,256.36 sold units + $917,685.58 CCP and unsold units.]
During a discussion on the municipal budget at last month’s City Council meeting, and a question about potential future revenues, City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier told the council two significant projects should provide future revenue. The city tax assessor is in the process of adding the assessment for Park Square, which begins its Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) this year, he said, and Renaissance at Rahway, which is scheduled to be completed in about 12 months.
City taxes are expected to remain about the same thanks in part to $1.6 million in sewer utility surplus plugged in as revenue. The $41.3-million municipal budget is up about 4.5 percent, with the amount raised from taxes up 3.5 percent, to $29.7 million. The average assessed home ($133,000) paid about $2,276 in municipal property taxes last year, and Chief Financial Officer Frank Ruggiero expects roughly the same amount next year. He described a recent nj.com story about the budget wildly inaccurate and residents can expect tax bills for the first two quarters to be similar to the last two quarters.
A public hearing and final approval on the budget is scheduled for Monday during the City Council’s regular meeting.
Developer interested in 19 unsold Riverwalk units
A developer is negotiating with Bank of America to acquire the 19 unsold Riverwalk units that have gone into foreclosure.
Redevelopment Agency attorney Frank Regan told commissioners last week that the city has provided the developer with information regarding the outstanding issues at Riverwalk, namely on-site improvements that remain undone and reimbursement to the city for work that was completed in the spring. The developer requested that the city not identify them, Regan said, adding that the developer is familiar with the city and and its redevelopment efforts.
Bank of America has started the foreclosure process on 19 unsold Riverwalk units, seven of which the city planned to pursue for property taxes. Diversified Communities built a total 86 townhouses in the Riverwalk project. The developer had ideas to build another 40 on adjacent property but did not due to the cost of remediating environmental issues, and at one point was a player in the Town Center project that was proposed three years ago.
Park Square timeline: fall 2010
The second building in the Park Square development is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy by fall 2010.
Joel Schwartz, principal with developer Landmark Companies of Keasbey, presented an update to commissioners at last night’s Redevelopment Agency meeting.
About 44 of the 63 apartments in the completed building one on Irving Street are leased and the 96 units in building two on Main Street should be open by October, Schwartz said. There will be a total 238 parking spaces. Due to a different elevation on Main Street, two levels of parking will be on that side (photo above, corner of Elizabeth Avenue) compared to one level in operation now on the Irving Street side. The four-story, 159-unit project broke ground in October 2006.
Schwartz said there was an effort not to push the retail space, given the market conditions but also to try to first fill up residential units. He hopes to have more tenants by the spring for the 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space along Irving Street. The first tenant, Eyes On You, a high-end optometrist occupying 1,700 square feet at the corner of Irving and Elizabeth Avenue (photo at right), should be open in the new year.
Before and after
Here’s a little before (left) and after (right) comparison of 1505 Main St., after recent improvements to the facade and other renovations.
The Planning Board approved the project in April 2008, with work starting around Labor Day and lasting several weeks. The “after” photo on the right was taken last week.
Looks like the only thing left to do on the exterior is a new awning and some signage for the Chinese takeout place on the left side and the beauty salon on the right side. It’s a slow week, I’ll shoot for more scintillating news in future posts.
New White Castle taking shape
Construction is under way on a new White Castle and it’s been taking shape along Routes 1/9 North in recent weeks.
Work started at least a month ago but since there was such a good response to the entry about the recent opening of a White Diamond in Rahway, I figured I’d post an update. It was just a matter of getting a good photo of the site without having to play Frogger in the northbound lanes. It turns out that Sunday mornings are a good time.
The Planning Board approved the 36-seat project last year but it was a little tricky to figure out where it was on a Google Map. It’s essentially between the Dunkin’ Donuts and Murphy’s Towing on the northbound side of 1/9, near East Scott Avenue and the southern end of Merck’s facility.
Renaissance at Rahway moving along
Work is progressing at Renaissance at Rahway since it broke ground just a few months ago. These photos were taken Sunday (at right, along East Grand Avenue looking west; below, along East Grand, looking east).
Home to what was the former Triangle Inn and several houses along Monroe Street and East Grand Avenue, Renaissance at Rahway plans to build a five-story, 88-unit rental complex. There will be ground floor parking. The development also will eliminate the block of Montgomery Street between Monroe and East Grand, building up to its adjacent neighbor, Riverton Nursing and Reha
bilitation Center.
The only property owner not to sell to the developer owns the building at the tip of Monroe Street and East Grand Avenue. The two-story retail-residential structure used to house a bait and tackle shop. Signage in the windows indicates a barber shop, T-Liners, is on its way into the ground-floor commercial space.
About a year ago, the Planning Board approved changes to the project, paving the way for 44 one-bedroom and 44 two-bedroom units instead of an initial proposal of 72 for-sale condos.