Tag Archives: Campbell Street

Apartments, Downtown

Demolition looming for Campbell Street building

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The industrial supply company that eventually will make way for a 116-unit rental complex could be out of its Campell Street facility within the next few weeks.

Clay Bonny of Heartstone Development expects A&M Industrial to move out of the Campbell Street building by the middle of next month, anticipating another six to eight weeks to after that for demolition to begin. That would put a timeline for demolition sometime in June. Some activity is noticeable around the neighboring home at 1442 Campbell St. (corner of Elm) that also will be razed to make way for the five-story project, which changed its name from Station Place to Metro Rahway.

A call to A&M Industrial yielded a recorded greeting indicating that they have moved around the corner to 37 W. Cherry St. for the time being, with a distribution facility on Hopkinson Street.

Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier told Redevelopment Agency commissioners earlier this month that Heartstone has filed an application with the city for a Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) but he will ask that it not be acted upon until other issues are resolved with the project. A&M Industrial is apparently seeking some relocation assistance via litigation.

The A&M property was acquired by Metro Rahway Urban Renewal, LLC in East Hanover for $2.87 million on Nov. 20, according to property records.

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Apartments, Downtown

Property for Station Place project acquired

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Demolition of the main property for Station Place, a 116-unit rental project, likely will begin later this year after it was acquired by the redevelopment in November for almost $3 million.

Use and occupancy of the 1.3-acre property by A&M Industrial Supply runs through next month and if the Campbell Street facility is vacant by the end of March, the redeveloper expects to start demolition by mid-April, according to Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier, who briefed the Redevelopment Agency in his report last  month.

Completion of the five-story development could be approximately 18 months from the start of demolition. Building permits are expected to be obtained by February 2014. No word on where A&M Industrial Supply would be relocated, which is the responsibility of the redeveloper, Heartstone Development.

The property at 1414 Campbell St. was acquired by Metro Rahway Urban Renewal, LLC in East Hanover for $2.87 million on Nov. 20, according to property records. The 1.3-acre site currently is assessed at $974,800, for an annual property tax bill of about $57,000. The developer also acquired neighboring 1442 Campbell St. for $425,000 in 2007. The project will include 85 parking spaces on the ground level, along with another 17 on-site spaces and 18 on-street spaces.

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Apartments, Downtown

Station Place could break ground next year

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After several changes and a few years of trying to relocate the current tenant of the property, Station Place appears to be moving forward, with construction slated for later next year.

Continue reading Station Place could break ground next year →

Commercial, Downtown, Rahway Survey, Retail

Movie theater, clubs and related retail for entertainment district

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A small, two-screen movie theater, night clubs, and ground-floor retail space for entertainment-related businesses could build upon the foundation provided by the Union County Arts Center.

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Apartments, Downtown

Station Place rentals approved

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The Planning Board unanimously approved an amended preliminary and final major site plan for Station Place on Tuesday night, paving the way for 116 rental units instead of the 80 condos that gained approval 18 months ago.
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Apartments, Downtown, Planning Board

Station Place returns to Planning Board

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The developer who once proposed 80 units for the Station Place development is expected to come before the Planning Board Tuesday night with plans to convert the project into 116 rental units.

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Apartments, Downtown

Condo projects into rentals

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If it can happen in everyone’s redevelopment mentor city of Hoboken, it can happen in Rahway. It looks like two projects originally planned as for-sale condos will become rentals.
The developer of Station Place has started to look at a plan for 116 rental units instead of 80 condos for the five-story project on a 1.6-acre site on Campbell Street. “Because of what happened in the economy in general, and the financial sector specifically, condos are very difficult to finance,” Clay Bonny of Heartstone Development said at last week’s Redevelopment Agency meeting. “Apartments are very easy to finance.” No major lenders are getting into condo construction, he said, so to keep the project moving, they decided to examine rentals instead.
A recent Wall Street Journal story pretty much confirmed the lending situation, for both consumer and businesses: “Banks continue to get more restrictive in their real-estate lending as the housing bust adds to their losses.”
Heartstone received Planning Board approval in March 2007 (.pdf) for 80 units, so it would have to get approval again for the increased density. Zoning currently allows for 60 units per acre.
The current occupant, A&M Industrial Supply, is under contract to be relocated to Edison, said Bonny. Some minor environmental issues on the property have to be cleared up, he added, so an extension on the closing has been requested through September.
Heartstone’s other project in Rahway, the 135 rentals at River Place, is 100 percent fully occupied for the first time since it opened in 2004, Bonny said.
Renaissance at Rahway was to be a 72-unit condo project on property encompassing the former Triangle Inn. Renaissance has five of the eight necessary parcels under contract so rather than go through what could be a two-year condemnation battle, developers will move forward with 64 rental units as part of a first phase. The second phase could include the remaining units if the properties are eventually acquired, said Joseph Ranieri, an attorney with Weiner Lesniak representing Renaissance. “This project works better under these economic conditions,” he said, adding that it’s not certain they can get financing for the whole thing.
The five-story project, which would include parking on the ground floor, would eliminate and be built on top of a short stretch of Montgomery Street between East Grand Avenue and Monroe Street.
Renaissance has been unable to acquire Block 379, Lots 1, 5 and 8. City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said the owners of Lots 1 and 8 are not interested in selling at all. An unacceptable counteroffer was received from the owner of Lot 5, he said, which bifurcates the whole project, so if it sells in the future, it could be added. It’s unclear how many more units could be built with Lot 5 part of the project, Pelissier said. “That’s the economic dilemma,” he said, the land costs versus the number of units that could be built; do you overpay for those or go through a costly, unfriendly sale?

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