Due to “popular demand,” our “Tax appeal week” posts have been extended into another week. OK, the real reason is I couldn’t get it done last week.
Continue reading Office center settles for 25% tax appeal reduction
Tag Archives: downtown
Redevelopment Agency, A&M settle for $215,000
The Redevelopment Agency approved a $215,000 settlement with A&M Industrial Supply last month, a year after the company filed suit in a dispute over relocation assistance.
A&M had been located on Campbell Street between Elm Avenue and West Cherry Street until last year when the property was acquired as part of the 116-unit Metro Rahway development that broke ground this summer. The Redevelopment Agency discussed the litigation in closed session during several of its meetings this year, including a 30-minute closed session at its Nov. 13 meeting.
A&M, which is still located in Rahway, filed suit in November 2012 seeking $300,000 and the settlement came about after court-ordered mediation in October. The agency will be required to make the $215,000 payment by the end of the year but admits no fault, Redevelopment Agency attorney Frank Regan said.
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| April 2013 |
A&M Industrial claimed that the agency, through Executive Director Peter Pelissier, agreed to provide relocation assistance in conjunction with selling their property to Heartstone Development. However, Regan said commissioners never formally approved and authorized payment nor was the agency ever obligated to provide assistance since it was not acquiring the property.
The only times the agency has provided relocation assistance in the past has been when it acquired properties itself, he said, such as the former Bell Drugs property on Irving Street for the YMCA’s expansion and as part of the Rosegate project on East Hazelwood Avenue. In the case of Metro Rahway, Heartstone Development acquired the parcels for the project, including the 1.56-acre A&M site on Campbell Street.
The dispute has its origins in 2005 when A&M Supply — after learning a few years earlier that its property was part of a redevelopment plan — sought relocation assistance from the Redevelopment Agency. The economic downturn delayed the project, including several changes to the plans, and A&M at times was not prepared to relocate, needing to find a suitable new location, according to the lawsuit. Heartstone acquired the A&M site in 2012 and got the project moving again.
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| November 2013 |
A&M was close to securing a new property that it had to close on by February 2013, according to the lawsuit, when in October 2012 it had been advised that the Redevelopment Agency would not be providing assistance, prompting the litigation.
A&M’s suit claimed that a Nov. 7, 2005 letter from Pelissier confirmed that the agency had adopted a resolution authorizing a redevelopment agreement with Heartstone that included $300,000 in relocation assistance. Minutes of the Redevelopment Agency’s Dec. 15, 2005 meeting indicate that commissioners were presented with the Nov. 7 letter from Pelissier to A&M, however, there’s no record of a resolution being approved.
Initially, A&M sought more funds, pointing to similar relocations in Carteret that received between $600,000 and $700,000 in assistance. The company claimed that Pelissier presented its request for additional funds to commissioners and a Dec. 22, 2005 letter to the firm indicated that its request was rejected, with the $300,000 offered previously being “all the funds that will be allocated.” The Redevelopment Agency, however, was unable to find records of executive session minutes going back to 2005.
Park Square tax appeal settlement
Park Square, the 159-unit rental complex downtown that was purchased last month, reached a tax appeal settlement with the city in October, which reduced its assessment by more than a third.
Mack-Cali acquires Park Square for $46.5M
Seven years after breaking ground on its first phase, Park Square has been acquired for $46.5 million.
‘Zero tolerance’ for parking under railroad tracks
In an effort to improve traffic safety as well as security around the train station, the Police Department has startd installing lane barriers along Milton Avenue, beneath the train trestle.
Illegal parking under the railroad has been an issue for some time. “This is something we have put a lot of thought into, and we have tried enforcement with negligible results,” Police Chief John Rodger said. “When we issue summons or chase cars out they come back pretty quickly and we just don’t have the ability to be there every moment.”
A layout was tested two weeks ago and the east side of the street was installed on Monday, with the other side pending weather and manpower, the chief said.
It’s always been illegal to park under the bridge and with the alert system in place post-9/11 the area was specifically designated a problem, Rodger said. Police also get a lot of complaints that motorists trying to turn left from Broad Street onto Milton Avenue can’t see and have to pull out into the intersection.
“We are hopeful that this solution will deter parking in that area, and eliminate the mid-block pedestrian crossings to get to vehicles previously parked under the bridge, while at the same time providing line of sight for vehicles trying to enter the intersection,” he said.
Once both sides of the street are completed, Rodger said there will be zero tolerance for vehicles parked in the bus stop or taxi stand on West Milton Avenue.
Water’s Edge to begin leasing by December
Meridia Water’s Edge, a 108-unit rental complex that broke ground last year behind the library and Center Circle facility, is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Indigo now vacant, officials press for new hotel
Redevelopment officials are encouraging the owners of Carriage City Plaza to find another hotel flag and retail tenants or sell the property to someone with hotel experience after Hotel Indigo shut down last month.
Continue reading Indigo now vacant, officials press for new hotel
Metro Rahway aims for late spring 2014
Construction has officially started at Metro Rahway, the 116-unit rental complex near the train station, and is expected to be ready for leasing in “late spring 2014,” according to this report. The four-story, $18-million project on Campbell Street between Elm Avenue and West Cherry Street will replace the A&M Industrial Supply building, which was demolished in June. A&M Supply was still in litigation with the Redevelopment Agency over relocation compensation and appeared headed for mediation last month.