Tag Archives: downtown

Carriage City Plaza, Commercial, Retail

Cuppy’s is coming, Cuppy’s is coming

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It’s not a Starbucks. Forget Panera. And never mind about Atlanta Bread Co. Cuppy’s Coffee, Smoothies & More has signed a lease to become the first retail tenant at Carriage City Plaza. The Fort Walton Beach, Fla.-based national chain doesn’t have much of a presence in New Jersey (or the Northeast), but has locations “coming soon” to East Brunswick, Phillipsburg and Whippany.

In fact, none of the aforementioned coffee franchises were even in the running at Carriage City since the retail space for a coffee shop does not allow for a kitchen. Also, Intercontinental Hotels Group, which operates Hotel Indigo, has an exclusive license agreement with Starbucks, which will be served in the Golden Bean and Phi Lounger, located in the hotel lobby.

Other retail tenants for Carriage City Plaza are expected to be a dry cleaner, salon and day spa, fitness center and a “well-known New Jersey-based restaurant brand.”

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Arts District, Commercial, Downtown, Retail

Park Square in talks with coffee house

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Developers of Park Square are in “serious discussions” with a tea and coffehouse, as well as an optometrist for half the commercial space, according to Eric Harvitt of Landmark Companies.

The first major residential redevelopment project to break ground downtown, Park Square is expected be ready for occupancy by August. It is comprised of 159 luxury rental one- and two-bedroom apartments and 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space along Irving Street between Elm and Elizabeth avenues. Since the retail space can be subdivided, the number of tenants will depend on their size.

Construction has begun on the Main Street side of the project, which will mirror the Irving Street side. Formerly home to Cliff Hardware and other properties, including a boarding house on Elm, Park Square broke ground in October 2006.

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Hot Rods and Harleys a hit

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Blog readers seemed to enjoy Hot Rods and Harleys, according to our latest poll. But while half of those who voted thought it was great, almost a quarter didn’t even attend the event. What gives?

“How did you like Hot Rods and Harleys?”
50 percent, Great! Plenty to see and do (20/40)
22 percent, Didn’t go, not my thing (9/40)
20 percent, OK, but would prefer more vendors (8/40)
5 percent, Liked the $2 Miller Lite specials a little too much (2/40)
2 percent, Good, a little overwhelming (1/40)

Any thoughts on how to improve Hot Rods and Harleys? What would make those other 22 percent of you go? Should there be more events like it thoughout the year?

We’ll take a break from poll questions this week but if anyone has suggestions, we’ll post our favorite next week.

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Apartments, Arts District, Downtown, restaurants

KC Jazz construction: 6 to 9 months

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Construction at KC Jazz restaurant could take anywhere from six to nine months and should start soon, according to developer Casey Granieri, who’s waiting for construction bids.

The former Kelly’s Pub building at Seminary Avenue and Irving Street received Planning Board approval (.pdf) last July. The renovated structure will have a capacity of about 100 people and feature a 1,400-square-foot patio and distinctive 37-foot tower. The second floor will include two two-bedroom apartments.

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To celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary, the Rahway Center Partnership will sponsor a block party on East Cherry Street Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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More renovations on Main Street

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The owner of a three-story building on Main Street (1500 Main St. LLC) has plans to give the structure a facelift, including new signage, lights and facade.

The current tenants of the building at 1505-07 Main St. — a Chinese takeout eatery and a beauty supply store — are expected to remain. The top two floors of the building, located at the end of East Cherry Street, currently contain vacant office space but will become two-bedroom, loft-style apartments, one on each floor with rent ranging from $1,400 to $1,600, according to Cynthia Solomon, director of community development.

Plans were presented to the Redevelopment Agency at its meeting April 9 and are expected to come before the Planning Board in the next few months.

The building is next to the former offices of Dornoch — builders of The Savoy and The Westbury — which renovated that space last year before moving. Prior to Dornoch, that property was home to Reggie’s Roast, a coffee shop and distributor, until about 2005.

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RR readers love their parks

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Readers spoke loud and clear in the latest poll. With almost three-quarters of the 57 votes solidly getting behind one choice, it’s probably the highest percentage in any of the recent polls. It wasn’t even close from the start. The total number of votes also fell just short of our highest yet (58), some two polls ago.

The question was sparked by plans for a park along Essex Street, near the Riverwalk development.

“How important is green/open space in your vision of downtown Rahway?”
Fewer condos, more parks — 14 percent, (8/57)
We don’t need Central Park but balance development with open space — 73 percent, (42/57)
If it doesn’t pay taxes, don’t bother — 12 percent, (7/57)

I’m always open to suggestions for upcoming polls so feel free to email or comment. Check out the new poll, at right.

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The city’s Web site has a map of the traffic changes planned for downtown this spring. Last I heard, the changes were aiming for around the same time as the Irving-Fulton realignment, which was ahead of schedule for April 1 (Tuesday).

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‘She’s a brick…’

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You’re probably still rubbing your eyes after yesterday’s heavy, wonkish post so it might be best to get back to some more tangible redevelopment items. As you can see from the photo above, the Elm Avenue side of the Park Square project is moving along, with brick work completed and scaffolding removed. The photo at right was from a little over two weeks ago.
On the opposite corner (Elizabeth Avenue and Main Street), you can see they’ve started digging a big hole. Although I didn’t snap a photo, the guess here is that it’s the early stages of the second phase, plans for which were recently submitted to the city.

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USA Today had a piece this week about boutique-style hotels, such as Hotel Indigo, and their foray into the suburbs (though I’m not sure who would consider Hoboken the suburbs — Manhattanites, I suppose?). While it didn’t mention Hotel Indigo at SkyView in Rahway, it did cite a few other examples of Hotel Indigos planned outside Boston and Indianapolis.

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SkyView at Carriage City Plaza will have an open house this Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to their Web site.

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Three side streets to reverse direction

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The City Council will introduce an ordinance Monday night to reverse three streets in anticipation of other traffic changes throughout downtown. Three side streets will become one-way streets heading toward Irving Street: East Cherry Street (photo above) and Coach Street (now one-way toward Main Street), and Poplar Street (currently two-way).
Final approval of the ordinance likely will come at a special meeting later this month if city officials hope to make the changes by April 1. The next regularly scheduled City Council meeting isn’t until April 14. A separate ordinance is expected to authorize traffic signalization and two-way traffic along Irving and Main streets.

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