The city has reached tentative agreement on a dispute over sewer connection fees for a proposed Irving Street restaurant.
Category Archives: Commercial
Rundown of related redevelopment news
Catching up on a few news items around the Interwebs that relate to redevelopment locally in one way or another:
* Here’s not one but two stories from Hoboken Patch about temporary art studios filling vacant storefronts in Hoboken and “Empty Storefronts: Bad for the Economy; Good for Art.” If that idea sounds familiar, it’s because Mayor James Kennedy mentioned it earlier this year, patterning it after a similar program in Asbury Park.
* There’s also this Crain’s New York piece (“Bronx merchants’ artsy ambitions”) about leaders in the Westchester Square neighborhood of the Bronx turning the area into a “nexus of art and commerce.”
* Also, Cranford narrowly approved expanding its Special Improvement District (SID). If you recall, Rahway did the same, to include the Hamilton Street arts projects, but also shifted management of the SID funds (roughly $140,000 annually) from the Rahway Center Partnership to the Rahway Arts District.
Casa Borinquen grand opening Friday
Specializing in Puerto Rican fare, the restaurant will replace Taste of Portugal, which closed in 2009 after more than two years at the East Cherry Street location. At one time the space housed the popular Eat To The Beat Cafe.
Casa Borinquen is family owned and operated by Rahway residents. I met the co-owners while I was strolling downtown on Sunday and they were putting some finishing touches on the place.
The building is among several East Cherry Street properties owned by Dornoch.
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The grand opening of Chess Mates, originally scheduled for March 1, was postponed. No new grand opening date has been set, but construction has been delayed due in part to the recent inclement weather.
The chess cafe will occupy the second retail space in Park Square on Irving Street, next to Eyes On You.
Irving St. restaurant slowed by sewer fee dispute
City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier told commissioners Wednesday night he was told by partners in the Station Bar & Grill that they could not do the project if they had to pay the city’s total calculation. The city doesn’t want to stop the project, he added, but is willing to work within the confines of the ordinance.
The calculation for the connection fee range, set by city ordinance, is based on a property’s historic data and previous occupants. The amount the developers want to pay, according to Pelissier, is about a quarter of the calculation by the city’s construction official. The developers, he added, have shared their calculation with the city and what they think they should be charged.
The Planning Board approved a minor site plan for the 6,900-square-foot project last June.
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In case you somehow haven’t yet heard about “Rahway’s snow babe,” it first appeared Saturday via CNN’s iReport, before getting picked up in Wednesday’s Star-Ledger, and then on and on.
Recent retail roundup
Woodruff Building changes hands for $775k
Catching up on tenant turnover
There’s been a bit of turnover in some downtown spaces the last few months, particularly along East Cherry Street.
After many months, dessert cafe opens
The windows are no longer covered and there was some activity as I drove home along Irving Street last night: InTheMix dessert cafe is open.
We first reported in May that the cafe would be coming to the corner of Irving and West Main streets and it finally opened last night. It’s been almost a year since a photo and camera shop left the 1,200-square-foot space.
If anyone pays a visit to InTheMix, let us know what you think.