The vision for the old Wheatena property on Elizabeth Avenue has gone through a number of iterations for more than a decade, from some 300 townhouses to 130 condominiums.
Continue reading Two developers in talks about Wheatena property
Tag Archives: Elizabeth Avenue
Capodagli named redeveloper of Wheatena site
The Redevelopment Agency conditionally designated Capodagli Property Company as redeveloper of the former Wheatena and Quinn & Boden sites on Elizabeth Avenue.
Continue reading Capodagli named redeveloper of Wheatena site
Concept for ‘The Brownstones’ at Wheatena site
The developer of two downtown projects under construction presented a new concept for the former Wheatena site at the corner of Elizabeth and West Grand avenues.
Continue reading Concept for ‘The Brownstones’ at Wheatena site
Interest in Wheatena site
City officials were scheduled to meet last week with a developer interested in the former Wheatena site.
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| File photos |
City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier told the Redevelopment Agency last week that he and Redevelopment Agency attorney Frank Regan were scheduled to meet with American Properties last Thursday. The company, which has several developments around the state, previously had expressed interest in the property, according to Pelissier.
Matzel & Mumford recently terminated a redevelopment agreement for the 8-acre parcel at the corner of Elizabeth and West Grand avenues, where it once had planned as many as 300 units before scaling back to 130 units and ultimately dropping the project.
Wheatena development scrapped
Due to unfavorable market conditions, the developer of the former Wheatena site on Elizabeth Avenue issued a notice to terminate the redevelopment agreement.
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]
Obvious who developers support in Dem primary
A quick look around town will show you who developers are supporting in next week’s Democratic primary. Campaign signs appear in the windows and on the buildings of several properties owned by developers: the sales office of SkyView at Carriage C
ity Plaza (above) and the former Dornoch offices (still owned by Dornoch) at 1513 Main St. (right).
and the building on the corner of East Milton Avenue and Main Street (below), purchased in 2008 by Landmark Companies, which is building Park Square, the 159-unit rental project at Elizabeth Avenue and Irving Street. CORRECTION: I’ve been told the space the corner of East Milton and Main was rented by the Proctor campaign and is not an endorsement by Landmark.
The June 8 primary will be the city’s first contested primary in about 20 years. City Health Officer Rick Proctor, also a county freeholder and the municipal Democratic chairman, got the backing of the local party, while former Housing Authority chairwoman Renee Thrash is running off the line. Three at-large council seats are up, with incumbents James Baker, Sal Mio
ne and Nancy Saliga challenged by Yvonne Wesley, Lynn Parker and Grace Jacquet. The Republican primary is uncontested, with local GOP chairman Patrick Cassio running for mayor with council at-large candidates James Grady, Kevin Retcho and Jeff Spatola.
Mayor James Kennedy, a Democrat, decided not to seek re-election this year after five, four-year terms. He plans to remain as unpaid executive director of the nonprofit Rahway Arts District, which now receives funding generated by the Special Improvement District (SID).
‘It’s time to knock it down’
City construction and health officials will determine what it will take to raze the building on the former Wheatena property at Elizabeth and West Grand avenues.
“It’s time to knock it down,” said City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier. The five-story building is structurally sound but has numerous broken windows, sustained recent storm damage, and is known to have “feet of pigeon droppings,” he said. Pelissier expects the Health Department can find grounds for demolition.
The developer, Matzel & Mumford, had asked the city not to pursue demolition previously so as not to interfere with efforts to acquire the property, Pelissier said. The trustee of the property and the developer have not been able to come to terms for acquisition but he suggested demolition might encourage the two sides to get together. Demolition could cost at least a half-million dollars, he added.
A K. Hovnanian Company, Matzel & Mumford have plans for a 130-unit condo complex at the former Wheatena and Quinn & Boden sites.