Tag Archives: Elizabeth Avenue

Wheatena

Wheatena developers working on new timeline

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The city is working with developers to update a redevelopment study for the former Wheatena property and come up with a new timeline for the 130-unit project.

Redevelopment Agency Attorney Frank Regan provided a report to commissioners during their meeting earlier this month and said an amended redevelopment agreement, with a revised timeline, should be completed in 30 to 60 days.

Early this year, developers Matzel & Mumford concluded the 130-unit Carriage Park at Rahway was “economically infeasible” at this time but were still committed to it.

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The Union County Performing Arts Center recently added two shows that you might consider a little more high profile than usual: Popular ’90s band Rusted Root on May 21 and comedian Brad Garrett (the brother from Everybody Loves Raymond) on June 13. What do you think? An improvement?

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Apartments, Downtown

Irving St. side of Park Square 90% leased

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About 90 percent of the units at Park Square are occupied with 57 of the 63 units in the Irving Street building leased, according to rental manager Nilyne Fields.

 

Continue reading Irving St. side of Park Square 90% leased →

Apartments, Wheatena

Wheatena project ‘economically infeasible’

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Developers of the proposed 130 units at the former Wheatena/Quinn & Boden facilities on Elizabeth Avenue want to build the project — just not in this real estate market.

Redevelopment Agency attorney Frank Regan emphasized to commissioners at their meeting Wednesday night that Matzel & Mumford is still committed to the project as approved but could not sell the condos for what they needed to. The city will continue to update the redevelopment study for that redevelopment area, which they hired an consultant for last fall, funded by Matzel & Mumford.

Market conditions, “coupled with the continued unrealistic expectations of the property owners within the redevelopment area, as well as other prohibitive costs and constraints have, unfortunately, rendered this project economically infeasible at this time,” wrote Carl Erler, attorney for Matzel & Mumford, in a Dec. 4 letter to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier.

A market study for Matzel & Mumford by East Brunswick-based Otteau Valuation Group in November pegged the average overall selling price at $294,000, with condos ranging from 1,646 to 2,306 square feet, with an average 2,041. Carriage Park at Rahway would consist of 72 “stacked” and 58 “traditional” townhouses. The plan was scaled down in 2007 from 300 units (264 condos/36 townhouses).

Representatives of Matzel & Mumford met last month with Mayor James Kennedy, Pelissier and Regan to discuss the timing of the project and current conditions of the real estate market.

“We have a significant amount invested in this project and we remain confident that the project will be viable when the market conditions improve,” Erler said in his letter.

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MyCentralJersey.com had a writeup of tomorrow’s First Thursday (Jan. 7), including an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Rahway Art Hive on East Cherry Street.

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Apartments, Redevelopment Agency, Wheatena

Wheatena developers meet with city

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Developers of the project proposed at the former Wheatena factory at Elizabeth and West Grand avenues are scheduled to meet with city officials this week.

Continue reading Wheatena developers meet with city →

Uncategorized

Elizabeth Avenue supermarket changes hands

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News has been a little slow of late so I’ve been perusing property transactions in Rahway and came across this one.

Universal Meat Supermarket on Elizabeth Avenue sold for $3.195 million in January, according to PropertyShark.com. V&D Properties, which lists the supermarket as its address, 2325 Elizabeth Ave. (Block 273/Lot 2), bought the 2.155-acre property from a Linden-based entity called Mia Tierra Linda, Inc., which acquired the site in October 2002 for $2.128 million. (That’s $1.067 million more, or 50 percent, in about 6 years and 3 months, for those of you scoring at home.)

The 32,000-square-foot building was built in 1963, according to land records, and is assessed at about $1.45 million, for property taxes of almost $69,000.

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Apartments, Arts District, Downtown

Park Square aiming for June occupancy

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In case you haven’t been to the Park Square Web site of late, it’s been updated to reflect a planned June 2009 occupancy. Previous timelines had pegged October 2008 and March 2009 for residential occupancy at the four-story, 159-unit rental development.

It’s been about a year since brick work was started on the Irving Street facade and construction of the Main Street side began. The photo above was taken Sunday, and you can see the streetscape work continuing up to the corner of Elizabeth Avenue. You’ll recall the first tenant was signed for the first-floor Irving Street retail space earlier this year.

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Corner lot adds parking spaces downtown

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As many as 20 parking spaces may be added downtown in the coming weeks. The property that housed a construction trailer for the Park Square project will become a surface lot for the Parking Authority. The trailer is expected to be removed today with resurfacing scheduled next week. About 16 to 20 parking spaces could be accommodated on the site, according to Parking Authority Executive Director Donald Andersen. Six of the spaces will be by permit and the rest metered.

The Parking Authority last week agreed to purchase the lot on the corner of Elizabeth Avenue and Main Street (1606 Elizabeth Ave./Block 158, Lot 3) from the Redevelopment Agency for $250,000. The agency had an appraisal for $215,000 but there were some costs associated with demolition and acquisition, according to Redevelopment Director and City Administrator Peter Pelissier.

The Redevelopment Agency acquired the 0.1331-acre parcel for $125,000 in July 2001, according to PropertyShark.com.

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