Tag Archives: fire

City Council

E. Cherry St. eyesore may come down by summer

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The City Council Monday night awarded a contract to install a fence around Dornoch’s dormant Savoy property on Main Street and moved forward on demolishing the developer’s East Cherry Street eyesore.

First, the governing body unanimously approved a $16,820 contract to Pollock Installations, Inc. of Woodbridge to install a fence at Dornoch I, a.k.a., The Savoy, at Main and Monroe streets. The council then introduced a $200,000 bond ordinance to cover the cost of the fence installation, as well as the demolition of 65 E. Cherry St., and improvements to Parking Lot B, a.k.a., Dornoch II/The Westbury.

The council is scheduled to approve the bond ordinance at its April 11 meeting. If all goes well, bids for demolition would be awarded by June and demolition could come by summer, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier. The property paid about $1,040 in property taxes last year, according to PropertyShark.com.

During a meeting in December, Redevelopment Agency officials asked Glen Fishman, managing partner of Dornoch, about the possibility of at least installing a fence around The Savoy site, since it’s sitting there just waiting to be vandalized. Given Dornoch’s financial situation, his suggestion was for the city to install the fence and place a lien on the property.

The wall that collapsed at the property last month was not load bearing, according to Richard Watkins, director of the Department of Building, Planning and Economic Development. The building was declared unsafe and the owner was ordered to demolish it, however, he has refused, Watkins said. The city plans to place a lien on the property to recover the cost of demolition.

Dornoch purchased the East Cherry Street property from the Parking Authority for $65,000 (less than the likely cost of demolition) and had proposed renovations to the Planning Board in 2007.

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Uncategorized

Facade collapses at burned out E Cherry building

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The ground-floor facade of the burned out building at 65 E. Cherry St. collapsed over the weekend. It’s likely that it occurred sometime between Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon.

The Redevelopment Agency considered buying the property last summer and last spring was looking into possibly demolishing the structure. Dornoch purchased the property for $65,000 from the Parking Authority and more than three years ago had proposed renovations to the Planning Board.
The two-story building has been vacant since a fire destroyed the beauty supply shop in the summer of 2005.
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MyCentralJersey.com had this profile of Aromalicious, the new pastry shop on East Cherry Street.

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Apartments, Downtown, Planning Board, Retail

Third story to rise from ashes

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Boarded-up windows and a charred facade could be transformed into a renovated three-story building along East Cherry Street by April. The Planning Board unanimously gave minor site plan approval Tuesday night for the former wig and beauty supply store that went up in flames in the summer of 2005.

The plan adds a third floor to the existing building, which would be set back to allow for a balcony, and also maintain the existing scale and proportion along East Cherry Street, said Michael Nelson, architect for Dornoch Rahway. It minimizes the impact of the addition, and gives more of a two-story look from street level, he added. Dornoch has two other projects downtown: The Savoy and The Westbury.

The first floor would have 1,402 square feet of retail, with another 2,863 square feet for three residential units on the second and third floors. A variance was necessary because zoning regulations require six parking spaces (1.8 per unit). The Rahway Parking Authority, which held ownership of the building until a plan was presented, will sell the property and as part of the sales agreement will designate the necessary parking spaces.

The second floor will have two 700-square-foot, studio-type apartments with “very open floor plans.” The remaining roughly 1,400+ square feet on the third floor will feature a two-bedroom, two-bath unit. All three units are expected to be for purchase, not rentals.

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