Tag Archives: Irving Street

City Council

Meters to return along Irving and Main

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Parking meters will return to the downtown area this summer.

Two-hour metered parking will stretch from East Milton to Central Avenue along Main Street while one-hour metered parking will be on Irving Street. The cost will be 50 cents an hour, purchased in half-hour intervals.

Some will replace meters that were taken out when the change to two-way traffic downtown was made last summer and some will replace meters taken off the streets about 15 years ago. Approval has been received from the County of Union and the Rahway Police Department’s Traffic Bureau to replace them, Parking Authority Executive Director Donald Andersen told the City Council last week.

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Arts District, Commercial, Downtown, restaurants

Dessert cafe coming to corner space

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Kim’s In The Mix, a dessert cafe, soon will occupy the corner of West Main and Irving streets.

Rafael Ortiz, who owns the property at 209-219 W. Main St. along with several other downtown sites, said some interior work still remains to be done. He estimated the shop could be in operation within a month.

The cafe signed a two-year lease with an option for three years on the 1,200-square-foot space at $1,500 a month, according to Ortiz. It will replace a camera and phone store that left in December.

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Settlement reached on Carriage City

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The Redevelopment Agency last night approved a settlement with Carriage City Properties (CCP) that will allow the developer to continue to rent unsold units at the 16-story condo/hotel.

CCP has sold about 57 units and began marketing vacant units for rent as early as last fall. Five are occupied by tenants and the city has issued 76 temporary Certificates of Occupancy in all at the 222-unit complex.

The two sides have been in discussions since the Agency declared CCP in default of its redevelopment agreement two months ago.

Here’s a summary of the settlement:
* CCP will execute a note and mortgage to secure the outstanding $2,285,250 in development fees and purchase price payments. The agency will get 10 percent of rent from each rented unit, which will be deducted from the $13,850 development fee until the unit is sold, at which time CCP will pay the balance. There are 165 remaining units.

* Infrastructure improvements, namely the East Milton Avenue and Irving Street realignment, cost approximately $1 million, of which CCP was liable for $368,562. The agency accepted CCP’s offer of $150,000, to be released immediately.

* Professional fees of $19,913 and water connection fees of $71,981 owed by CCP will be paid no later than April 1, 2010.

* Construction permit violations totaling $168,000 will be waived upon abatement of all issues identified by the city’s construction official.

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5/17 UPDATED: Between the intersection improvements and construction penalties waived upon correction, CCP got about 15 percent knocked off what it owed in total. City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier described that as “small to the potential of a bankrupt redeveloper,” adding that the site pays almost $1 million in property taxes. Meanwhile, construction penalties usually are waived if violations are corrected as a matter of business, with the point to get conformance and have the building safe for occupancy.

Many builders, renters and retailers are trying to renegotiate contracts to stay solvent, he said. “This is no different. The RRA and the city need to work together with redevelopers and sometimes although not popular with the critics public improvements not private improvements have to be paid for by the taxpayer to receive acceptable returns.” While CCP has taken a lot of heat for not adhering to the redeveloper’s agreement, Pelissier said, they did complete construction.

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Settlement discussions with Carriage City

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City officials are in discussions with Carriage City Properties to resolve their dispute over payments related to Sky View at Carriage City Plaza. The Redevelopment Agency claims almost a half-million dollars is owed by Carriage City while the developer has threatened bankruptcy.

Declared in default of their agreements last month by the Parking Authority and Redevelopment Agency, Carriage City Properties had about 30 days, until April 8, to rectify the situation or they could be taken to court. Redevelopment Agency attorney Frank Regan said after Tuesday’s City Council meeting that any litigation is essentially on hold as they discuss a resolution.

According to written correspondence between the two sides, the Redevelopment Agency is claiming Carriage City Properties has not paid fees of about $458,000 related to at least 11 condo sales ($74,250), reimbursement for professional costs ($15,351), and a “reasonable contribution” toward the cost of intersection improvements at East Milton Avenue and Irving Street ($368,562).

Carriage City has paid the agency $323,000 to date but has not received closing-related fees since December. Payments on the 11 units ($74,250) would push them over the deferred $331,194 threshold set last summer and revert to the full $11,750 fee per unit owed the agency upon each closing. About 58 units have closed and appeared in tax records while the agency claims that fees have been paid for only 47 units.

According to that same letter, Carriage City has expressed concerns about the Redevelopment Agency’s financial ability, requested the agency’s audits for the past three years, and has “repeatedly stated in meetings with city and agency officials that it cannot meet its financial obligations and may lose the hotel flag and have to file for bankruptcy,” Regan wrote.

Representatives of Carriage City Properties/Silcon have not returned my email messages in months, but in this report last week its president of real estate suggested an unspecified change in the redevelopment agreement proposed by the city last year. He also claimed city officials turned down an offer to meet late last month to resolve the situation and that they have more in escrow than what the city claims it’s owed, according to the report.

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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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Park Square signs first commercial lease

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The first commercial space at Park Square is spoken for. Eyes on You, an optometrist, has signed a five-year lease and will occupy about 1,800 square feet along Irving Street near Elizabeth Avenue.

The buildout is under way and occupancy could come by May, according to Matt Dobrolowski, the listing agent for Park Square.

As for the remaining 4,000-plus square feet for the ground floor at Park Square, Dobrolowski said there have been “on-again, off-again” discussions with a “small, franchise cafe” that could still happen.
For some perspective on progress at the site, at left is a photo taken late last March. The inspiration for that photo (and a continuing series of the same) came from Harvey Keitel’s character in the movie “Smoke,” who snaps a photo from the same spot outside his Brooklyn smoke shop every month for many years. Not quite the same, I’ll admit, but taking a photo every few weeks from the same corner does offer some perspective.

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A new poll is up and available. Thanks to all who offered their nominees for this month’s question. If you don’t see your favorite on the list, just select “Other” and feel free to use the comments section to specify who that might be.

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