In what might be the first bit of good news about The Savoy property in years, the bank behind the project has orders to level the site — steel and all.
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Bids rejected for interim parking at theater site
The Redevelopment Agency rejected two bids for construction of interim parking at the site of the proposed Hamilton Street amphitheater. A new bid could be awarded by next month.
The two bidders — Berto Construction and Gingerelli Bros. — were about $500,000 apart, one reason why they were rejected, according to City Engineer James Housten, though seven contractors purchased bid packets. (Gingerelli Bros. earlier this year was awarded the $5.825-million bid for the Hamilton Stage project at the Bell Building.)
When the Redevelopment Agency decided several months ago to put the amphitheater on hold and instead build an interim parking lot at the Hamilton Street site, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determined that a different permit would be required, Housten said. Meetings with state officials, however, have led to a more favorable recommendation, he said, with the process and cost to a less than if the agency had followed the DEP’s original edict and see another permit.
Part of the bid included removing remediated soil, which Housten said will be tested and determined exactly what it contains and how much there is. That process might provide for less expensive bids when the project goes out to bid next week. He hopes to have a resolution to award a new contract at the agency’s August meeting.
Early this year, the Redevelopment Agency decided to delay building the amphitheater and instead construct an interim parking lot to accommodate the Hamilton Stage. Commissioners also held off on acquiring three remaining homes on Hamilton Street that were slated to eventually become parking areas.
Dornoch building goes on the market
One of Dornoch’s properties is on the block. The three-story building at 1501 Main St. is listed with an asking price of $599,000, at LoopNet.com. That works out to $120 per square foot for the 5,000-square-foot space, and would be a 16-percent premium over the $515,000 that Dornoch paid for the property in February 2007, according to property records.
The property is assessed at $229,700 and pays roughly $12,500 in property taxes, according to PropertyShark.com.
This past spring, Hillside-based Dornoch was declared in default of its redevelopment agreement on The Savoy and also owns the building that was recently demolished on East Cherry Street, along with several other downtown parcels.
Top 10 property taxpayers
The top 10 taxpayers in Rahway make up about a fifth of the city’s total assessed value. As part of an $11.65-million bond sale in the spring, the city put together a slew of documents on the city’s debt and tax assessments for ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.
Details of the bond sale, as they relate to redevelopment, will be included in an upcoming post. For now, here are the top 10 property taxpayers in the city (here it is an Excel file, maybe easier to read), followed by the total assessed value of their property (or properties):
Merck & Co., Inc. — $249,669,700Carriage City Properties, LLC — $27,128,400Park Terrace at Rahway, LLC — $6,684,500Giacobbe Investments Corp. — $5,762,400Alard Realty Enterprises — $5,477,900Renaissance at Rahway, LLC — $5,362,800Woodbridge Plaza, LLC — $4,329,500Rahway Industrial Site — $4,296,900Ninette Group — $3,659,600New Jersey Bell — $3,576,279TOTAL — $315,947,979
In some cases, like Merck and Giacobbe Investments Corp., the total figure includes multiple parcels, while for others, it’s just one property, like Renaissance, Park Terrace and Woodbridge Plaza.
“The city’s tax base has experienced, what we consider, limited, but stable, growth; it increased by just 2.1 percent since fiscal 2007 to $1.55 billion in fiscal 2010,” according to the S&P report. It considered the city’s per-capita market value of $134,775 “extremely strong.” Officials expect a tax base reduction for the subsequent year, according to the report. While the tax base is diverse with the 10 leading taxpayers accounting for 21.2 percent of assessed valuation (AV), Merck alone accounted for 17 percent of AV in fiscal 2010. Total assessed valuation is $1,486,291,000 in 2011, down 3.8 percent from $1,545,974,600 in 2010, according to the report.
Primarily due to a tax appeal by Merck (the first in more than 20 years) and to a lesser extent the economic downturn, the tax base will likely decline by 4 percent to $1.49 billion in fiscal 2011, according to the report. The city has settled the tax appeal and will repay about $1.6 million over the next three years.
There are a few more interesting (at least to me) statistics within the documents, as well as details of the bond sale, that I’ll post soon.
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ABC 7 News‘ Neighborhood Eats paid a visit to Rahway recently, checking out Patria Restaurant and Mixology Lounge on West Main Street. A 2:41 report on the new eatery aired Friday, featuring a tilapia dish.
Cops begin moving into police center
The Police Department is expected to begin moving into the new police assistance center on East Cherry Street this week. Police Chief John Rodger said the Police Auxiliary, which had typically used the basement of City Hall, already has started using the facility.
East Cherry Street demolition tab = $75,000
The City Council tonight approved an emergency contract for the demolition of 65 E. Cherry St., which occurred last month. Frank Lurch Demolition Co. of Asbury Park was awarded the $75,000 contract.Continue reading East Cherry Street demolition tab = $75,000
Hamilton Stage draws interest
More than 20 performing arts companies have expressed an interest in making Hamilton Stage their home.
Art gallery/tattoo parlor gets approval
A combination art gallery and tattoo parlor gained approval from the Redevelopment Agency. Times Of Grace would be located at 1417 Main St., previously occupied on occasion by a Jackson Hewitt Tax Service office.
Robert Mankowski and his wife, Hayley, made a presentation to commissioners at the agency’s monthly meeting this week. Both are graduates of the University of The Arts in Philadelphia and have had their work shown around the nation.
Director of Community Development and Redevelopment Agency Secretary Cindy Solomon told commissioners that a resolution would be necessary not for the art gallery but the tattoo parlor planned to go with it. A tattoo parlor is not a permitted use in the business district so a resolution was required by the Redevelopment Agency, similar to when Rose City Tattoos moved in on West Main Street.
The fine arts gallery would be visible from the street but the tattoo parlor would be in the rear of the space and by appointment only, said Mankowski, who would be the lone tattoo artist. He aims to avoid a stereotypical tattoo parlor that people might think of when they think of tattoos (“No neon signs”), but instead draw people inside through the artwork on display.
A couple of commissioners preferred that the art gallery be more prominent than the tattoo parlor in any signage, and that the resolution also specific the limited number of tattoo artists and the fact that it would be by appointment only.
Mankowski, who first hand-draws each custom tattoo, hopes to open the gallery/tattoo parlor later this summer.