The vacant St. Mark’s Church property and five adjacent lots will be studied for potential redevelopment.

 City Council on Monday night unanimously passed a resolution (AR-53-19) directing the Planning Board to study six properties in all on Hamilton Street, Seminary Avenue and Gordon Place to determine if they qualify for a condemnation redevelopment area under state law. The redevelopment area would encompass the entire block except for one lot on the corner of Seminary Avenue and Irving Street that’s already part of the existing downtown redevelopment area. There were no comments or questions from the public or council members.

Once the Planning Board’s professionals study the properties, the board would make a recommendation to City Council, and if approved, then would go to the Redevelopment Agency.

The focus of any potential redevelopment area likely would be the largest parcel, the former St. Mark’s Church. Demolition of the vacant properties on the site began last summer but work seems to have come to a standstill although it’s unclear why.

The six properties to be examined are:

• 288 Seminary Ave., Block 162, Lot 8
• 277 Hamilton Ave., Block 162, Lot 9
• 308 Seminary Ave., Block 162, Lot 10
• 322 Seminary Ave., Block 162, Lot 11
• 1613-17 Gordon Place, Block 162, Lot 12
• 309 Hamilton St., Block 162, Lot 13

The properties total almost 1.5 acres in all, with St. Mark’s being the largest at almost 1 acre and the highest assessed, at $666,700 — nearly as much as the others combined. Since it’s owned by the Archdiocese of Newark, the St. Mark’s property is exempt from property taxes. The other five properties are all residential and assessed for a total $690,400, generating property taxes last year of just less than $46,000. In all, the six lots are assessed for $1.357 million.

The St. Mark’s redevelopment briefly came up during Wednesday’s Redevelopment Agency meeting. Second Ward Councilman Rodney Farrar, who also serves on the agency, briefed fellow commissioners that the governing body was considering expansion of the redevelopment area for the block and in the initial phase of what City Council is considering.

Commissioner Timothy Nash asked whether there’s any interest in development of the area and warned that it “floods like crazy.” Redevelopment Director Robert Landolfi said there has been interest by at least one developer to do a mixed use project. If a plan does come together, there’s no question that the area floods and that would be taken into consideration, he added.

About two years ago, City Council considered studying six areas for potential redevelopment spanning almost 120 properties but was met with considerable public opposition from property owners, primarily from West Grand Avenue, who raised concerns about condemnation redevelopment. The governing body eventually approved a resolution for non-condemnation redevelopment studies of the areas but the effort doesn’t seem to have moved forward.

An area in need of redevelopment must meet certain criteria under state redevelopment law, which can include properties in disrepair, abandoned buildings, public and vacant land, and underutilization, among others.

Much of the downtown redevelopment has been done through the state redevelopment law. For instance, redevelopment laws were used in the early 2000s to acquire assorted different parcels along Elm Avenue, Main Street and Irving Street for the Park Square development. Redevelopment areas allow for different incentives and financing tools, such as, Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) and Redevelopment Area Bonds (RAB). Most downtown projects built in the past decade have been awarded PILOTs of varying lengths, ranging from 10 to 30 years.