Tag Archives: Irving Street

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New retail agent at Carriage City

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It looks like Carriage City Plaza has a new leasing agent. Paramus-based The Goldstein Group moved into the ground-floor of the East Milton Avenue corner of the building several weeks ago.

No word from Silcon/Carriage City about what happened to the steakhouse — an unnamed “New Jersey institution” — that was in the works a year ago for that area. I’m sure you all have your guesses.

The dry cleaners at Carriage City has opened but it appears unlikely that Cuppy’s Coffee will move in next door (though Goldstein does label the space that way in their site plan). There remains a building permit on the front door of Cuppy’s — dated earlier this month — indicating alterations to the space for a “Mr. G’s.”

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Of artists and jetpacks

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A couple of non-redevelopment news items over the last few days:

* A Star-Ledger “I Am New Jersey” profile of local artist Marcel Truppa on Friday. It must have been about a year ago when I made my first visit during one of the First Thursdays events and it was evident, as one person put it in the Ledger profile, “he’s absolutely a local treasure.” If you’ve never been to his downtown studio on Irving Street, it’s worth the trip, whether it’s stories about his art or living in Rahway.

* A Wall Street Journal piece about jetpacks on Monday that included a Rahway environmental engineer who’s been building one in his basement for the last decade or so.

***

I got a suggestion for a new poll question: “If you were desperate for a cheeseburger, where in Rahway would you go?” It follows our culinary theme among poll questions which seem to be the most popular. We have some ideas but to try to avoid leaving out any potential vote-getters (as we did with the pizza poll), we’ll accept some “nominees” this week to be included in the poll; email suggestions or use the comments section below.

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Progress on Park Square streetscape

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It looks like there’s some progress along Irving Street in front of Park Square, as concrete has begun to be poured for a new sidewalk.

Occupancy at the 159-unit rental development doesn’t look like it will be “early 2009” as reported earlier. There’s almost 7,000 square feet of retail space planned along the Irving Street side of the four-story complex. Landmark Companies of Keasbey has been in discussions as early as last summer with an optometrist and coffee/tea house.

It’ll be interesting to see what rental prices will be once they finally are occupied. Originally planned for a fall 2008 opening, Park Square rents ranged from $1,600 to $2,375 but that was before Sky View entered the leasing market at $1,250 a month.

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Carriage City Plaza, City Council, tax appeals, taxes

Tax appeal settlement approved

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City Council approved a tax appeal settlement Monday night with Carriage City Properties. Details on the settlement can be found in this earlier post.

Property taxes would be paid whether units are occupied or not, and the developer would be responsible for taxes on any units it owns, said City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier.

During the Feb. 3 pre-meeting conference of City Council, Third Ward Councilman Jerry Scaturo raised the issue of Carriage City Properties leasing its unsold units. Sky View began marketing a lease-to-buy option, starting at $1,250 a month for one-bedroom units.

Pelissier said it’s not a concern from the standpoint of wanting to see people moving into the community. “It’s better than having…units sitting empty,” he said. If the units are occupied, the $10,000 fee owed to the Redevelopment Agency should be paid, said Pelissier, adding that the agency is seeking is a formal request from the developer to clarify the redevelopment agreement. Originally the developer, Elizabeth-based Silcon Group., was to pay the $10,000 fee upon closing of each unit.

About 57 units have closed at Sky View, according to the Parking Authority records, while the Redevelopment Agency has been paid for 46 units and 78 temporary certificates of occupancy (TCO) have been issued by the city, Pelissier said. It’s unclear how many units are rented, he said. The 16-story complex has more than 200 units in all.
By my count, about 48 units have sold (less than a quarter) at an average of almost $292,000, a high of $444,000 and a low of $216,350 (which happens to be the most recent sale I’m aware of).

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City Council, tax appeals, taxes

Settlement near on tax appeal

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Carriage City Plaza will pay almost $1 million annually in property taxes under a tax appeal settlement reached with the city.

The settlement, which is expected to gain City Council approval Monday night, calls for Carriage City to pay $350,000 in taxes for its partial assessment for 2008. In addition, it will pay $100,000 toward the approximately $350,000 that’s owed to the city as part of intersection improvements and signalization, among other things.

Starting with 2009, property taxes for the site will be about $978,000 at full assessment, City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier after Tuesday night’s conference council meeting. The total assessment for the property is about $59 million, with $2 million for the retail space, $6 million for the hotel and the remainder for the 220 residential units. By comparison, Pelissier said, Merck & Co.’s property is assessed at about $277 million.

The reduced assessments primarily came in the residential components of the project, Pelissier said, adding that once the retail portions are fully developed, those parts will see increased assessments. The original assessment was about $60 million, which would have generated $1.2 million in property tax revenue.

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Apartments, Downtown, Redevelopment Agency

Carriage City violating redevelopment agreement

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Apparently in violation of its redevelopment agreement, Carriage City Properties has been advised by the Redevelopment Agency that it needs approval before renting unsold units on its own in the 16-story building. The builder also has filed a tax appeal, which could be settled shortly.

Redevelopment Director and City Administrator Peter Pelissier reported at Wednesday night’s meeting that the redevelopment agreement would have to be renegotiated. Specifically, it would be modified to stipulate payment of the $10,000 redevelopment fee to the agency at the time the unit is occupied, instead of at closing.

Of the 209 units, about 48 units have closed and a total of 76 Temporary Certificates of Occupancy (TCO) have been issued, according to Pelissier. Several units can be found advertised as rental apartments on various Web sites but those are individual owners who purchased the units, which is allowed. Last month a Rahway Rising reader pointed out a craigslist ad that clearly indicates SkyView as the rental agent, which Pelissier said prompted a Jan. 5 letter from the agency’s attorney to Carriage City Properties.

Carriage City also has appealed its tax assessment of almost $60 million (equalized ratio of about $25 million), which this year will generate $1.2 million in property taxes. That issue may be settled at Monday’s City Council meeting, Pelissier said.

Units at SkyView at Carriage City Plaza so far have sold for an average of about $296,000, with a low of $225,000 and high of $444,000.

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A look back at 2008

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A little belated but let’s take a year-in-review look at the milestones in redevelopment during 2008. A good starting point is Mayor James Kennedy’s State of the City address last January since he’s scheduled to deliver the 2009 version during Monday night’s City Council reorganization meeting:

– Town Center negotiations were continuing and the project was “continuing to be defined.” The plans may still include some of the aspects originally proposed but the residential and retail components likely will come in phases, at last estimate, around 2013.

– Luciano’s opened and received favorable reviews, not just from readers here, but also The Star-Ledger.

– Carriage City Plaza opened in the summer. While the Hotel Indigo reportedly has enjoyed a solid occupancy rate, about 40 of the 200+ condos at SkyView have closed, and it’s unclear how many might be owner rentals.

– Park Square was to open this year but a revised timeline is looking more like March, though construction on the Main Street side of the project started in 2008. The photo below right is from January 2008, left, is from December 2008.

– The Hamilton Laundry building was finally demolished in August.

– The economic meltdown and ensuing credit crunch was enough to change two projects. Station Place and Renaissance at Rahway both received approvals last year to become rentals instead of for-sale condos.

So what does 2009 hold for Rahway? Any predictions?

You’d have to think that people will finally move into Park Square. Let’s hope that something more substantial starts happening at The Savoy. As for new shops or stores though, let’s be honest, it doesn’t look good given the retail sector and the economy in general. Who knows what’s going on with the retail space at Carriage City Plaza, where a coffee shop, dry cleaners and restaurant has always been part of the plan. In recent weeks, two more downtown spaces have closed up shop or will close: the former photo store at the corner of Irving and West Main streets and the art gallery at 89 E. Cherry St.

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New timeline for Park Square: March ’09

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A Transit Village Update in the latest edition of “Transit-Friendly Development” makes mention of several mixed-use projects in Rahway, including Park Square, where “occupancy is scheduled for early 2009.”

Eric Harvitt, a principal with Keasbey-based Landmark Companies, confirmed that they’re aiming for March for occupancy in the first of the 159 rental units in the four-story buildings. You’ll recall that at one point occupancy was expected by the fall. Harvitt attributed the revised timeline to “typical construction delays and maybe too aggressive a projection.”

Transit-Friendly Development is a newsletter by NJ Transit and the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University.

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