City officials met with representatives of Silcon/Carriage City Properties (CCP) early this month to discuss money owed the Redevelopment Agency, a year after approving a settlement agreement with the developer.
Continue reading A year after settlement, city & Carriage City in talks
The city will buy the former Beverage Shop for $80,000 — $50,000 less than what the Rahway Center Partnership (RCP) paid for it nine years ago.
Catching up on a few news items around the Interwebs that relate to redevelopment locally in one way or another:
* Here’s not one but two stories from Hoboken Patch about temporary art studios filling vacant storefronts in Hoboken and “Empty Storefronts: Bad for the Economy; Good for Art.” If that idea sounds familiar, it’s because Mayor James Kennedy mentioned it earlier this year, patterning it after a similar program in Asbury Park.
* There’s also this Crain’s New York piece (“Bronx merchants’ artsy ambitions”) about leaders in the Westchester Square neighborhood of the Bronx turning the area into a “nexus of art and commerce.”
* Also, Cranford narrowly approved expanding its Special Improvement District (SID). If you recall, Rahway did the same, to include the Hamilton Street arts projects, but also shifted management of the SID funds (roughly $140,000 annually) from the Rahway Center Partnership to the Rahway Arts District.
Catching up on a few older items in this blog post. As pointed out by a reader email, the Union County Dance Centre last month moved out of its Irving Street location (photo at left) to a new home in Linden. Showfur Pets also vacated its East Cherry Street location.
As far as newcomers, it looks like Edward Jones Investments will be moving into one of the commercial spaces at Carriage City Plaza, next to the former Mr. G’s Coffee. Signage has been up for awhile but interior work appears to be progressing.
Since we’re on the topic of retail/commercial vacancies and I’ve been meaning to post this link for weeks, here’s a write-up on nj.com (“Pint-sized Gem: Kitchen a la Mode”) about a tiny, specialized kitchen store in downtown South Orange. It goes back to the types of niche stores and merchants that a downtown needs or wants, something Rahway surveyed a few years ago.
And in another look at what other towns are doing, Metuchen has started offering 10 minutes of free parking downtown. The Rahway Parking Authority reinstituted parking meters downtown last summer but the parking deck offers up to 30 minutes free.
Here’s a piece in Philanthropy Journal (“Nonprofit theaters see financial upswing”) that examines two reports about nonprofit theaters. One reports theaters are rebounding slightly from budget cuts yet many still expect cash flow problems this year, while the other indicates theaters still face staff reductions and changes, including smaller shows and casts and greater reliance on local talent.
There’s also this story from nj.com last month about some arts groups cutting back schedules or closing altogether.
Another month, another milestone for Renaissance at Rahway on East Grand Avenue.
After breaking ground last fall, the 88-unit complex continues to make progress. The image at left was taken last week.
Rahway plans to install public art downtown, including sculptures and murals, among other things, so I thought this recent story about public art in and around Summit might be relevant.
A little late on posting this but: Landmark at Rahway, LLC, the developer of Park Square on Irving Street was fined $85,000 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for stormwater pollution issues from 2008 and 2009 that have since been corrected.
Not that it’s any surprise but don’t expect KC Jazz Restaurant to open during 2010.
Redevelopment Agency Commissioner Courtney Clarke inquired about the status of the project during the March 24 Redevelopment Agency meeting.
City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said the project at the corner of Irving Street and Seminary Avenue is not likely to be realized this year. Developer Casey Granieri is expected to go out to bid again and resubmit quotes to the bank, which had advised him to reduce the costs of the project by $500,000, Pelissier said.
The city has notified Dornoch that it will proceed legally to knock down the burned out building at 65 E. Cherry St.
City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier last fall asked the city engineer and city construction official to investigate whether the building was structurally sound or should be razed.
Dornoch presented plans to develop the property in November 2007, adding a third floor with residential units on the second and third floors and ground-floor retail. The building housed a former wig and beauty supply store on the first floor before a fire destroyed it in summer of 2005.
Mayor James Kennedy is working with the bank and Dornoch about a possible purchase of the Main Street property, Pelissier said during a Redevelopment Agency meeting earlier this month. While it may not look like anything is going on at the site, he added, they’re “aggressively working with developers to move forward.”
The city plans to repair the sidewalk and move the fence back along the Main Street frontage of The Savoy, according to Pelissier. Whoever ends up doing the project will reimburse the city for the sidewalk work, he added.
Homes By Maplewood apparently has an updated Web site which no longer now lists The Savoy as “Coming Soon” but no longer The Lofts as it once did on our Local Links to the right, the leased apartments at the corner of Irving and East Cherry streets. It still mentions P&F Management’s “urban division is currently developing residential communities,” in among other places, Rahway.