Apparently in violation of its redevelopment agreement, Carriage City Properties has been advised by the Redevelopment Agency that it needs approval before renting unsold units on its own in the 16-story building. The builder also has filed a tax appeal, which could be settled shortly.
Redevelopment Director and City Administrator Peter Pelissier reported at Wednesday night’s meeting that the redevelopment agreement would have to be renegotiated. Specifically, it would be modified to stipulate payment of the $10,000 redevelopment fee to the agency at the time the unit is occupied, instead of at closing.
Of the 209 units, about 48 units have closed and a total of 76 Temporary Certificates of Occupancy (TCO) have been issued, according to Pelissier. Several units can be found advertised as rental apartments on various Web sites but those are individual owners who purchased the units, which is allowed. Last month a Rahway Rising reader pointed out a craigslist ad that clearly indicates SkyView as the rental agent, which Pelissier said prompted a Jan. 5 letter from the agency’s attorney to Carriage City Properties.
Carriage City also has appealed its tax assessment of almost $60 million (equalized ratio of about $25 million), which this year will generate $1.2 million in property taxes. That issue may be settled at Monday’s City Council meeting, Pelissier said.
Units at SkyView at Carriage City Plaza so far have sold for an average of about $296,000, with a low of $225,000 and high of $444,000.
Score one for Rahway Rising! A new watchdog for the redevelopment in town …
Noticed that at the corner of Woodbridge Road/Rahway Ave and Randolph Ave, the empty distribution center/parking lot looks to be full of new cars. Guess they ran out of space at the port? Sign ‘o the times?
Great report Mark, but I don’t understand something. So the town is going to restructure the agreement to allow Skyview to rent the apartments instead of forcing them to only sell them which is what the agreement stipulated?
Anonymous, That’s correct. The Redevelopment Agency seems open to negotiating modifications to the agreement with the developers, namely the change in when the $10,000 redevelopment fee is paid. Given current market conditions I’d guess they’re open to the idea of allowing rentals but SkyView needs approval rather than just going out on their own. Also remember, by state law, 75 percent of the units have to sell before a homeowners association is created.
Tell me the choices I have as an owner. Do I need an attorney?
I am one of the few owners of skyview. Do I am in trouble now? Do I need to hire an attorney? If someone can answer this ? please advise. thanks
I am also a owner. By the way, I love the building and being near the train is great, it’s a shame the economy has slowed things down though. The purchase contract allows Skyview the option to rent out apts though so I think any options are limited. But if you find out otherwise let me know.
Anonymous’s, why do you feel you need to hire an attorney? You are allowed to either use your unit as a primary residence, or, you can rent it out. Not sure why Skyview’s ability to also rent out units concerns you.More info please.
Anyone know what it is like to live at Carriage City? I am an artist looking to relocate and am somewhat familiar with Rahway. I would prefer to rent at this time.Thank you.
Umm …. yeah, I’m a trendy web designer married to a savvy media consultant and I need to know about life at Skyview too.
anonymous and anonymous, I currently live at skyview and i love my space and the building. I would watch out for the builder, but other than a few minor things I am happy that I purchased here. Hopefully, the building will fill up soon and further fulfill the idea behind the building. Beware though because there is a hotel below there are only a few lenders that will give a mortgage in the building b/c fannie mae won’t approve condo-tel’s, which is what I am told it is considered. I don’t particularly like Wells Fargo but they are one that will extend a mortgage there.
Skyview mgmt is renting unsold condo at lower price ($1250/-). Which is very big hurt to owners because they sold and forced owner to buy at very high price telling (because contracts are made 1 year ago) that each units will rent around $1700/-. and 60% is units are sold (Which was a big lie).Now Skyview dropped rent/price themself. Based on Creiglist, you can see more then 12 add from Skyview sales rep.
Can anyone tell me what the monthly utilities will cost in the sky view building for a 2br?
the utilities are around $150 a month. FYI, this building claims to have a door man but it’s really just a few hotel employees that sign for packages, they really don’t do anything and they don’t know your name.
Skyview is the worst. The hotel employees (doorman) are terrible, they don’t even notify you when you get a package, they just lock it up until you ask for it and even then they can’t find it. They lost one of my packages once. Skyviews advertizes that they have a fitness center but they don’t have one!!! This is the worst apartment I have ever lived in. The construction really cheap and I have already had several thing go wrong in my apartment. The management company is non-responsive and rude. Don't Live Here!!!
I have lived at Skyview for 2 years and I can tell you that the buildings not as nice as it looks. Originally this was a condominium but they couldn’t sell any units so they started renting them. The building is still empty because they can’t rent all the units, I heard they are going to turn the building into section 8 housing (gov’t subsidized housing for low income families) The building materials are very cheap, the windows don’t have come with screens or blinds so there are lots of bugs and the heat/AC is electric so expect to pay over $500 month in utilities during the summer and winter. The bottom floor of the building is all empty retail space….it’s kind of depressing. It’s also very load living next to the train station. The management company, Carriage City Properties, is totally unprofessional. Their employees don’t return your phone calls and they are rude. DO NOT LIVE HERE….and beware of Carriage City Properties employees posting false feedback on all the blogs.