Almost $42,000 in property taxes have been canceled for 2011 in connection with redevelopment projects downtown and the Arts District.
Tag Archives: downtown
Capodagli designated redeveloper
A month after being presented with a conceptual plan for a 116-unit rental complex behind Rahway Public Library, the Redevelopment Agency designated Capodagli Property Company as redeveloper at its meeting on May 4.
Dornoch declared in default
The Redevelopment Agency this month declared Dornoch Holdings in default of its redevelopment agreements on The Westbury and The Savoy, which has entered the foreclosure process with Wachovia Bank/Wells Fargo for failure to repay construction financing.
Demolition expected this week
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| Monday |
Demolition started this week on an East Cherry Street building, almost six years after a fire destroyed much of it. The Fire Department responded last Wednesday afternoon to a report of the back corner of the second floor collapsing into the first floor, according to this report on mycentraljersey.com.
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| Wednesday |
The two-story building at 65 E. Cherry St. has been a vacant eyesore since a beauty supply store went up in flames in the summer of 2005 and in February, the first-floor facade collapsed into the structure.
At one time, Dornoch Holdings, which acquired the property from the Parking Authority for $65,000 and had plans to renovate it, presenting plans in November 2007. Dornoch owns several East Cherry Street properties, along with a couple of dormant developments on Main Street.
The City Council approved a $200,000 bond ordinance in April that included funds for the demolition of 65 E. Cherry St., as well as improvements to create an interim parking lot at the former Westbury site on Main Street.
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Could repairs to the NJ Transit Train Station be forthcoming? Yellow tape surrounded the center stairs a few days ago, and since been replaced by fencing. Perhaps that means repairs are coming soon — or maybe the fencing was installed in time for Saturday’s Hot Rods & Harleys. The stairs have been closed for more than a year.
Park Square targets June opening
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| Corner of Elizabeth Avenue and Main Street |
The second building of Park Square, one of the first cornerstone projects of downtown redevelopment efforts, should be ready for occupation starting in June.
Joel Schwartz, principal with Keasbey-based developer Landmark Companies, appeared before the Redevelopment Agency at its meeting last week to provide an update on the 159-unit complex. He last appeared before the agency in late 2009 for an update.
Schwartz expects the second building to obtain certificates of occupancy one floor at a time — which also was done with the first building — so it should be fully occupied by about September. He said the second building boasts larger windows and more space. One-bedroom units list for starting rents of $1,600, two-bedrooms at about $2,000.
The project first broke ground nearly five years ago (October 2006) and the first building on the Irving Street side, which houses 63 of the units, was completed just about two years ago, beginning leasing in summer 2009. The Irving Street side also has 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space which is fully occupied, with five tenants, and Schwartz said the rental units are 100 percent occupied, with some turnover. The Main Street building, without any retail space, houses the remaining 96 units.
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| Corner of Elm Avenue and Main Street |
Schwartz presented renderings that were part of Planning Board hearings in 2004 and 2005, and compared them to present-day photos of the project, as well as what the 2.4-acre site looked like before construction. He said they took a two-pronged approach: first, to redevelop in the spirit of what had been downtown, and second, to incorporate the best of redevelopment efforts from around the state and country. Some of the areas that inspired Park Square include Princeton’s Palmer Square, Forest Hills in Queens and Lake Forest, Ill. As time goes by, Schwartz hopes the complex has more of a connection with Merck as well as be more actively involved in the day-to-day activity of downtown.
The entire complex has 159 units and 205 parking spaces, including ground level parking on the Irving Street side, and two levels of parking on the Main Street side. [Note: The photos above are from last fall]
New York Times calls The Rail House ‘Worth It’
Another Rahway restaurant received a favorable review last month: The New York Times on Saturday called The Rail House 1449 “only a few short steps from excellence,” with some complaints about noise and uneven service. They loved the sea scallops and dessert (the apple tart in particular), had positive things to say about the appetizers but would pass on the crab cakes, salmon and calf’s liver.
During their first visit, “the food was almost uniformly excellent, the service was spot on, and the atmosphere was warm and cozy and quiet.” It was the second time around when a private party upstairs, coupled with creaky, uncarpeted 18th century floors made for a noisy time. All in all, The Times rated The Rail House “Worth It,” behind the top “Don’t Miss” category but ahead of “O.K.” and “Don’t Bother.”
The Star-Ledger in February (.pdf) gave The Rail House 3 1/2 stars (3 stars = very good, 4 stars = excellent). There are no shortage of opinions at Open Table either, with almost 60 reviews.
The Rail House 1449 opened in December in the Irving Street space formerly occupied by David Drake, which closed almost a year earlier after almost five years in business. Have you paid a visit to The Rail House yet? Tell use what you think.
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The Friends of Rahway Public Library will sponsor “The Amazing Rahway Race” on May 21, beginning at 10 a.m. at the library. Based on the popular reality show, teams of 2-4 people will compete by solving clues, completing challengs and racing through downtown. Check out this flier for more information.
Interim parking coming soon to Lot B
The City Council tonight awarded a $30,000 contract for the construction of an interim parking lot on Main Street, which should be completed within several weeks.
Matawan-based Esposito Construction was awarded the contract in the amount of $29,652.95. Funds for the interim lot were included within a $200,000 bond ordinance also approved tonight that also will fund demolition of 65 E. Cherry St. and installation of a fence around The Savoy site at Main and Monroe streets. Mounds of asphalt millings have been staged at the site for the resurfacing, which must be completed in time for next month’s Hot Rods & Harleys event, according to Redevelopment Director and City Administrator Peter Pelissier.
The interim lot is expected to add about 100 spaces to the existing 65, which the Parking Authority will lease from Dornoch Holdings — the developer which originally proposed to build The Westbury — for $1 annually in exchange for property taxes on the site being waived. The idea for an interim lot was proposed in fall 2009 when it became clear the mixed-used development wasn’t coming online anytime soon. [Link in italics added 4/16]
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An advisory issued last week by NJ Transit indicated that construction of the center stairs at the train station — which have been closed for a year — is expected to begin in “mid-April.”
$165k for police assistance center
A multipurpose bond ordinance to be considered by City Council next week includes $165,000 for equipment and improvements for a police community assistance center currently undergoing renovations on East Cherry Street. The governing body is scheduled to approve several bond ordinances at its meeting on April 11.
The $1-million bond ordinance, which includes the purchase of various equipment and improvements, calls for a down payment of $8,250 and issuing $156,750 in bonds. The city acquired the former Beverage Shop building at 52 E. Cherry St. last spring from the Rahway Center Partnership for $80,000 and plans for the police center were announced last fall.
The $165,000 is for “pretty much everything we need to open the building as a police facility,” said Police Chief John Rodger, including furniture and equipment, such as IT infrastructure, for a 30-capacity conference room. Rodger said the interior has been slightly redesigned and the Juvenile Detective Bureau will be moved into the building full time. The video system for East Cherry Street also will be moved there and cameras will be added for Lot B and the driveway accessing it from East Cherry Street.
Renovations to the center have counted on donations to this point, said Rodger, estimating that less than $15,000 has been spent so far. Pending expenses including flooring, ceiling and Sheetrock work, the chief said, adding that he’s working on getting all material donated for the electrical work as well as volunteers from an electrical union to do the work.
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This Wall Street Journal story from last week, All Not Cake on Hoboken’s Washington Street, indicates that even everyone’s favorite cool city is having some difficulty when it comes to retail tenants. About a dozen storefronts along an eight-block stretch of downtown are currently closed, though some new tenants are on the way, according to the WSJ story. Rents vary, with spaces closer to the train station more expensive, as much as $100 per square foot while uptown locations rent for as little as $2 or $3 per foot.