Properties adjacent to and including the former St. Mark’s Church lot on Hamilton Street have been recommended by planners as an “area in need of redevelopment.”

Redevelopment Director Robert Landolfi provided the update during his report at the Redevelopment Agency’s May 15 meeting, indicating that the study is back from the Planning Board’s planning professional and in the hands of commissioners. The city is looking to acquire several “uncommitted parcels” and will be conducting appraisals, he added.

Six properties in all were examined but the St. Mark’s Church property, owned by the Archdiocese of Newark, is the largest and most prominent. The Archdiocese had demolition completed this past spring of the former St. Mark’s Church building ahead of a likely future sale.

The other five properties within the potential redevelopment area are all residential. All of the lots are within Block 162:

• Lot 8, 288 Seminary Ave.
• Lot 9, 277 Hamilton Ave. (St. Mark’s)
• Lot 10, 308 Seminary Ave.
• Lot 11, 322 Seminary Ave.
• Lot 12, 1613-17 Gordon Place
• Lot 13, 309 Hamilton St.

City Council in February formally directed the Planning Board to study the six properties to determine if they qualify for a condemnation redevelopment area under state law. 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 Planning Board’s regular monthly meetings for May and June, originally scheduled May 29 and June 25, respectively, were canceled with a special meeting now scheduled for June 12. It’s possible the redevelopment study could come up on the June 12 meeting agenda. UPDATED, 6/11/2019: The Planning Board is expected to take up a resolution at its June 12 meeting following a presentation on the redevelopment study.

Declaring an “area in need of redevelopment” requires meetings certain criteria outlined in New Jersey’s State Redevelopment Law. The Planning Board would next have to formalize a recommendation to City Council, which ultimately would give the Redevelopment Agency authority to designate redevelopers and such. Much of the downtown redevelopment in Rahway over the past 25 years was accomplished through the state redevelopment statutes.