Tag Archives: commercial

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Some more storefront shuffling

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Catching up on some more retail turnover in the past few weeks, one of the longest tenured stories on East Cherry Street closed. Big Belly Deli opened in spring 2005 but it looks like the owner has some bigger issues to worry about now.

In case you hadn’t seen this story over the weekend from The Star-Ledger/nj.com, the owner of the deli and another man were accused by police of driving around the Rutgers University campus, shooting deer without hunting permits, and bringing the carcasses back to the deli — oh, and they allegedly were intoxicated too. “Authorities have not determined if the deer meat…allegedly brought into the store was sold to customers,” according to the story.

A “Business For Sale” sign was in the window a couple of weeks ago while the deli had closed in February. I’d heard some rumblings about the reason behind the closing but hadn’t been able to confirm that to post about it.

A newcomer to East Cherry Street appears to be Pet Essentials. Stenciled signage in the window at 43 E. Cherry St. indicates a place called Pet Essentials will be taking up space there. It’s essentially been vacant since the Rahway Art Hive moved down the block to Main Street last summer. The flier in the window seems to indicate an April opening for the pet supply store.

Speaking of The Art Hive, I’ve been told Jim McKeon, the man behind the Art Hive, is on hiatus traveling for the spring and closed up the art gallery and co-op studio last month.

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A story last month in The New York Times takes a look at continued redevelopment efforts in Asbury Park (Asbury Park’s Boardwalk Revival Moves Inward).

Some key takeaways:

* “Recent development projects and a growing restaurant scene have helped potential investors see the town as one that was ‘moving forward,’ and that its creative history had attracted a passionate crew.”

* Market-rate rents for street-level retail spaces range from $12 to $15 a square foot.

* “A soft economy and a lack of parking and pedestrian traffic had kept business from truly booming.”

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Retail comings and goings

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The Zoning Board of Adjustment had too few members in attendance to vote on the St. Mary’s application tonight, so let’s catch up a few comings and goings in recent weeks when it comes to retail spaces:

* Main Shoe Repair, at the corner of Main and East Cherry streets, closed today. It occupied the location for less than two years, opening in the spring of 2009 and at the time replacing a salon.

* A pet spa is expecting to fill the former Kataluma Chai at 1470 Main St., by sometime in March. Kataluma was in the space from October 2009 to September 2010. Thanks to a reader who submitted the photo at right.

* The Zen Martial Arts and Meditation Center of Rahway recently opened on Main Street, between the Rahway Art Hive and Main Street Barber Shop.

There’s been some scuttlebutt about a few others but I haven’t been able to confirm them yet.

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Patria Restaurant and Mixology Lounge opened in December, replacing the former El Bodegon restaurant on West Main Street. I haven’t had a chance to visit yet and haven’t heard much about it, but there seems to be plenty of curiosity judging by search activity on the web. Normally, there are a few keyword searches that turn up in our blog results several times a week. The most popular usually are Carriage City Plaza or Sky View, maybe a few times a day. Keyword searches for Patria or El Bodegon, however, routinely reach a dozen a day or more, far higher than anything else we’ve seen in the past.

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Commercial, Downtown, Rahway

Nail salon expands to former dance space

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Paris Nails last month expanded into the former Union County Dance Academy at 1542 Irving St. The dance academy left last spring for a new space in Linden.

No word on details of the lease, but the property last exchanged hands in 1998 for $600,000, according to PropertyShark.com.

 

Thanks to Bob Markey of the Chamber of Commerce for the photo. I’ll be catching up on a few things, so look for multiple posts this week.

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In another look at what other towns are doing with respect to their downtown or other commercial areas: Cranford considers pulling pay stations from Centennial Avenue parking areas. In this case, it’s not the downtown area – a point the mayor makes in the story – but also, the pay stations generate $7,000 in annual revenue but cost $9,000 to operate. The story quotes the mayor as saying the pay stations “place a burden on the business district that is still attempting to gain its footing.”

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Commercial, Downtown, Rahway, Retail

Dornoch updates agency on retail properties

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As promised, the remainder of the briefing the Redevelopment Agency received last week from Glen Fishman, managing partner of Dornoch Holdings.

Fishman was invited to provide an update on the firm’s activities and while the “bad news” portion consisted of an update on the lack of activity at The Savoy, the “good news” portion, as it was described, concerned Dornoch filling its rental properties along Main Street.

Temporary surfacing parking eventually will take over the rest of Lot B on Main Street, adding about 100 spaces in a deal with the Parking Authority and Redevelopment Agency. How temporary the parking is likely will depend on when the economy rebounds. The space originally was planned for 152 residential units with retail-residential mix and parking component known as The Westbury.

Dornoch has been able to rent all but two of its buildings along Main Street, Fishman said. Residential apartments above its properties at 1513 Main St. and 1469 Main St., are rented while they’ve had some interest in the retail components. A New York tenant abandoned 1469 Main St., Fishman said, but a clothing store (headed up by his stepmother) has moved into 1513 Main St. (photo above) while 1501 Main St. has two potential tenants, including a Westfield attorney who may come before the agency and/or Planning Board with changes to the interior, and another tenant who may be interested in the entire building. He’s hopeful to have the spaces filled by February or March.

“People continue to have faith in the town and are willing to spend,” Fishman told commissioners.

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Here’s an idea that might be worth copying. Summit’s merchant association, Summit Downtown, Inc., issues an annual report of sorts, the going vacancy rate and detailing the past year of openings and closings. While Summit may be vastly different in terms of demographics, like Rahway, it also has a Special Improvement District (SID) tax.

Perhaps an effort such as this may be undertaken by the reorganizing Rahway Center Partnership, which is revamping its website, the fledgling Chamber of Commerce, or be included in the mayor’s pledge to market the city.

By the way, Summit reported a vacancy rate of 4.8 percent, 10 vacancies, down from 7.6 percent, 16 vacancies, with 21 new stories and seven expansions/relocations, and five new openings anticipated early this year.

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City Council, Commercial, Downtown, Retail, taxes

Breakdown of SID taxes

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Catching up on some older items during this slow week, the City Council last month approved a 2010 budget of about $130,000 for the Special Improvement District (SID).

Continue reading Breakdown of SID taxes →

Commercial, Downtown, Retail

Aromalicious by Christmas

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A Portuguese bakery and cafe is coming to East Cherry Street within the next week. Aromalicious will be open by Christmas, according to the signs in the windows of 85 E. Cherry St. Renovations had been ongoing at the site since the summer.

Readers of the blog often have expressed a desire for a local bakery downtown. The results of the Rahway Survey from several years ago indicated support for a bakery, among other things, and there was quite a discussion about a bakery after Drug Fair vacated their space on St. Georges Avenue.

International Pastry, now in Clark, was located along East Cherry Street about a decade ago, and not far from this location, American Jubilee, a dessert shop/bakery operated at 88 E. Cherry (most recently an art gallery) until about five years ago.

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Kind of a scary story from The New York Times on Friday (“A ‘Shadow Inventory’ Dampens Winter Market”): A “shadow inventory” of 41 months worth of homes to sell that aren’t even on the market yet because they’re in the foreclosure process. “More northerly, urban parts of the state are in less dire straits.”

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Commercial, Downtown, Retail

Jeweler to take last Park Square retail spot

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Kennedy Jewelers will fill the final retail space at Park Square, moving four blocks from its current location.

Mayor James Kennedy said a 10-year lease is up on his East Milton Avenue and Fulton Street location and the new space, at the corner of Elm Avenue and Irving Street, is smaller, thus more affordable. “I like the street parking and cozier feeling,” he said in an email, describing it as “more ’boutique-ish.'”

Kennedy, who ends his fifth term as mayor at the end of this year, said it will be his fifth location in 32 years.

The other two retail tenants at Park Square are expected to be Davis Financial, a Linden-based CPA firm, and Deisel Training Center, a strength training and tae kwon do facility. The target for occupancy is December while Kennedy Jewelers could be January of February, according to Matt Dobrowlowski of Iozzi-Williams Village Green ERA, the exclusive listing agent. All three of the tenants have signed either four- or five-year leases in the range of $22 to $23 per square feet annually.

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Here’s a cool photo gallery in Crain’s New York, “Musty streets now hot strips,” featuring half a dozen “formerly forgotten streets becoming urban destinations, boasting a growing crop of trendy eateries and boutiques.” How’d they do it? “It requires daring entrepreneurs seizing the opportunities of cheap rents and an underserved market, as well as landlords hungry enough to take chances on unproven operators.”

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