Tag Archives: Park Square

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Park Square timeline: fall 2010

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The second building in the Park Square development is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy by fall 2010.

Joel Schwartz, principal with developer Landmark Companies of Keasbey, presented an update to commissioners at last night’s Redevelopment Agency meeting.

About 44 of the 63 apartments in the completed building one on Irving Street are leased and the 96 units in building two on Main Street should be open by October, Schwartz said. There will be a total 238 parking spaces. Due to a different elevation on Main Street, two levels of parking will be on that side (photo above, corner of Elizabeth Avenue) compared to one level in operation now on the Irving Street side. The four-story, 159-unit project broke ground in October 2006.

Schwartz said there was an effort not to push the retail space, given the market conditions but also to try to first fill up residential units. He hopes to have more tenants by the spring for the 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space along Irving Street. The first tenant, Eyes On You, a high-end optometrist occupying 1,700 square feet at the corner of Irving and Elizabeth Avenue (photo at right), should be open in the new year.

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taxes

No tax abatement for The Savoy, Dornoch

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News that the Plainfield City Council last month was asked by the administration for a five-year, 40-percent tax abatement for a Dornoch project in that city has prompted questions from readers in recent weeks about whether the Hillside-based developer will seek the same for The Savoy on Main Street. (The Plainfield governing body was scheduled to entertain the measure at its meeting last night.)

City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said Dornoch had requested abatements in negotiations this past summer, but he said he rejected it, with no plans to entertain the idea.

The only recent tax abatement awarded by the City Council was about five or six years ago when Park Square was still just on the drawing board. Landmark Developors will pay 20 percent of the assessed value of the property in the first year it’s on the tax rolls (2009), and 20 percent more each year until 100 percent is reached. Pelissier said the city tax assessor is in the process of compiling the first assessment for the property, which would mean it would be paying 100 percent property taxes by 2013. The project broke ground in 2007 after several years of land acquisition and other work for the development.

Also, this interactive map from P and F Management (a subsidiary or parent entity of some kind for Dornoch and its projects) is another indication that The Savoy may become rentals, something with which the city probably would not have a problem considering the real estate market and other projects going rental.

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Apartments, Parking

Downtown parking assessment

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I forked over $17.50 to the Parking Authority for a copy of the 45-page final downtown parking assessment by Blue Bell, Pa.-based Tim Haahs and Associates, commissioned last year. I finally got to reviewing it and will present it in two posts: parking needs followed by recommendations tomorrow.

Continue reading Downtown parking assessment →

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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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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