Tag Archives: Bell Building

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Rahway among DEP-selected brownfield sites

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Rahway was among six sites chosen as Brownfield Development Areas last week by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The designation allows towns to identify clusters of brownfield sites, which have been abandoned or underutilized because of known or suspected contamination, for coordinated remediation and redevelopment. More importantly, cities are eligible for up to $5 million in grants annually for investigation and remediation along with the assistance of a case manager to oversee the process.

There were eight sites eligible in Rahway:
– The former Hamilton Laundry site where a 1,100-seat amphitheater is planned
– Myron Ross Park on Essex Street
– Park Square
– The proposed Station Place project on the site of A&M Supply on Campbell Street
– The former Wheatena factory on Elizabeth and West Grand avenues
– City Hall Plaza (due to the Police Department’s gas pumps)
– The Savoy
– The Westbury

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Asbestos removal could near $100K on Hamilton home

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Asbestos remediation for a home that will be demolished to make way for the amphitheater on Hamilton Street could cost almost $100,000.

City Engineer James Housten briefed Redevelopment Agency commissioners during a meeting earlier this month. He said a survey estimated the cost to deal with asbestos at 312 Hamilton St. to be $43,000, with administrative costs possibly bringing the total to $93,000. Asbestos must be removed from the roof, floors and tiles before demolition can occur, he said. The Redevelopment Agency acquired the two-story, multi-family home last year for $340,000 to include the space for the Hamilton project.

Housten also described the design for the amphitheater project site. The amphitheater itself will be on the front, left portion of the Hamilton property, with parking in the rear center and rear right, and continuing to a lot behind where the house is located, and up and around the Bell Building.

The site still lies within a flood plain so the stage must be built to withstand stormwater, though it can be approved because there no homes or businesses are planned. Still, he added, it’s a serious waiver that is not easily obtained from Department of Environmental Protection. Housten said the hope is to gain approval by December.

The amphitheater project is expected to go to bid and break ground by next year. The second phase, once the amphitheater is constructed, will include design and development of the Bell Building for a black box and dance theater.

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City Council

Asbestos, tank removal for Bell Building

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Contracts totaling nearly $75,000 for asbestos abatement and storage tank removal at the Bell Building, along with a change-order for the removal of a storage tank at the former Hamilton Laundry site were approved by City Council earlier this month. Contracts went to AWT Environmental Services, DIA General Construction of Clifton, and Warren-based Whitestone Associates.

A banner at the Hamilton Laundry site proclaims a spring 2010 timeline for a 1,000-seat amphitheater. A black box theater and performing arts space is planned for the Bell Building while the neighboring Shami Apartment are eyed for senior/artists’ housing.

The house adjacent to the Hamilton Laundry site was acquired by the Redevelopment Agency and scheduled to close in December, but Agency attorney Frank Regan reported that the owner has been unable to vacate tenants, which was one of the conditions of closing, and may need to proceed with eviction, but not until the end of this month.

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Downtown, library

State of the City 2009

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Though I was unable to attend Monday’s City Council meeting, I did get a copy of Mayor James Kennedy’s State of the City address. The mayor is among a long list of officials looking for help from the feds.

“I retain optimism that this slowdown will only be temporary and the incoming administration of President-Elect Obama will provide long-overdue federal funds to invest in our roads, sewers, parks and other vital elements of our infrastructure,” Kennedy said. “Unlike other municipalities, Rahway has many projects that are already approved by the authorizing boards and agencies. Our improvements and investments will enhance our redevelopment opportunities. So that the ‘shovels can hit the ground’ as soon as the economy rebounds and our continuing redevelopment efforts will restart in a period of months instead of years,” he said.

Among the projects Kennedy cited as “ready to begin” are the 88-unit Renaissance at Rahway and 116-unit Station Place. The Savoy, he said, will “restart construction when additional financing is obtained.” (Photo at left)

As for other redevelopment-related highlights in his remarks, the mayor reviewed the various ongoing projects that you’ve read about here before:

— New ratables increased the tax base by $30 million for the nine-month period in 2008. A full year on the books is expected to create $42 million in 2009. A little perspective: ratables increased by about $30,000,000; the city’s total valuation is about $1,500,000,000 ($1.5 billion). The added ratables — mainly attributed to Carriage City Plaza, Luciano’s and Riverwalk — generated about $900,000 in additional tax revenues for the city.

— In addition to the planned 1,000-seat amphitheater at the former Hamilton Laundry site, and development of the former Bell Telephone building into a performing arts space and black box theatre, the former Elizabethtown Gas building is expected to be purchased and house a “first-rate art school as well as a co-op gallery venue.”

— “The 40,000 square feet of condominium space above the library was sold last year, and will be converted into office space sometime this year.” The library opened in 2004 with the idea of eventually selling the top two floors for office space. No word on whether the sale netted the $3.5 million that was expected at the time to help offset the cost of the $7.4-million facility. [UPDATE: SDI Technologies already paid $3.2 million to the city for this project, according to City Administrator Peter Pelissier.]

— The city is “exploring a partnership with the Parking Authority to construct a 300- to 500-space parking deck on Lot B, to complement the proposed Westbury housing/retail development next door.” We wrote about this study in August but there was never any mention of the number of spaces. Originally, The Westbury was planned with a five-story, 324-space parking facility.

For some historical perspective, there are a few paragraphs about the mayor’s 2005 State of the City address here.

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Still quiet at The Savoy

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With no work going on at The Savoy, now there’s not even any word from its developers.

Redevelopment Director and City Administrators Peter Pelissier reported at last month’s Redevelopment Agency meeting that the agency’s attorney has been unsuccessful in reaching attorneys representing Dornoch Holdings.

Pelissier said Dornoch is represented by Al Faiella, who for what it’s worth had some interesting dealings in Newark redevelopment.

Given the market, the guess here — and that’s all it is — is that The Savoy will go the way of other projects and shift to rentals. That would require an amendment to its redevelopment agreement, which would need approval from the Redevelopment Agency. The credit crunch has done the same thing to other projects in Rahway. Another Dornoch project, The Lofts, shifted to lease-to-buy options with three of the four units signed up at Irving and East Cherry streets. (Here’s an AM New York report about condo inventory rising amidst slumping sales in New York.)

Pelissier reported at the last Redevelopment Agency meeting (Nov. 12) that the mayor, in speaking with Dornoch principal Glen Fishman about the burned out East Cherry Street property, indicated he’s interested in selling and there may be a buyer.

Dornoch received approval last year for a plan to renovate that site, where a fire occurred some five years ago. Dornoch also acquired a strip of East Cherry on the other side of the street, along with multiple properties along Main Street in anticipation of The Westbury. That project is essentially on hold as the city and Parking Authority move forward on their own with the parking component.

Dornoch had been considered for the Hamilton Street project that would rehabilitate the Shami Apartments for senior and/or artist housing and turn the Bell Building into an arts space but you can expect that redeveloper’s designation will expire and another developer sought.

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Hamilton demolition targeted for June

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Demolition of the former Hamilton Laundry building is expected next month. The City Council last Monday night awarded a $281,000 contract to LVI/Mazzocchi Wrecking of East Hanover after the state Department of Environmental Protection approved demolition permits last month.

Conceptual designs for an amphitheater planned at the site, which abuts the Rahway River, have been presented to the Arts District Council, City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said. Construction is expected next spring, to be completed by summer.

Flooding last spring (.pdf) proved too much for the Hamilton Laundry site, which at one point had been considered for a comedy club/black box theater, with Joe Piscopo among the investors. Instead, the focus of the Hamilton property will be a park and 1,000-seat amphitheater. A 7,000-square-foot black box theater and 9,000-square-foot performing arts space will focus instead on the nearby Bell building and Elizabethtown Gas property. The Redevelopment Agency is targeting the nearby Shami Apartments on Hamilton Street for 80 units of affordable housing for senior citizens and artists.

Once the amphitheater is completed, funding would be sought to retrofit the Bell building, which might be completed by summer 2010.

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Ampitheater designs to be revealed

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The conceptual design of a 1,000-seat ampitheater on Hamilton Street could come before the Redevelopment Agency next month.

City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said he would request the city engineer to make a presentation on the status of the ampitheater. The Arts District Advisory Board has been working with an architect on ampitheatre concepts. The agency is next scheduled to meet April 9.

State approval for the demolition of the Hamilton Laundry building (below) could come as early as this month with actual demolition by summer’s end. The Arts District Advisory Board will work to complete the design for construction to begin next spring and be completed next summer. Funding then would be sought to retrofit the Bell Building (above), so by summer 2010 it’s ready to go for a black box theater. There also would be plans to create loft housing for artists and residents affilated with the arts district programs.

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For those who are commuters, it was a pretty good week for news. It looks like NJ Transit will be one of the few places not raising prices this year while it becomes the first transit system in the Northeast to start using Google Transit. But it can’t all be good news, at least for those who travel toward Trenton.

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A couple of mentions this past week of “The Wrestler” filming in Rahway; one story about filming at the hospital, and another on shooting at a local bar in Roselle Park.

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Arts District, Downtown, Rahway

Going down? As soon as the state says OK

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Among the expected developments Mayor James Kennedy mentioned Monday night in his State of the City address was demolition of the Hamilton Laundry site in 2008.

There have been plans for the site for years — including a Joe Piscopo-backed comedy club — but after last spring’s flooding, it was decided to focus a park and amphitheater on the Hamilton property. Plans still call for a 7,000-square-foot black box theater and 9,000-square-foot performing arts space, but they will be targeted for the nearby Bell building, Elizabethtown Gas property and the Shami Apartments, where flooding is not an issue.

The City Council in November authorized a $825,000 bond ordinance for demolition of the Hamilton Laundry building and an application for demolition is awaiting approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection. City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said last week that demolition could occur three to four months once the state gives its OK (he’s hoping for February or March). The state, however, might require a historical soil analysis (basically searching for historical artifacts and such) since an ampitheater will be built. A similar soil analysis was required for The Savoy project on Main and Monroe.

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