Tag Archives: Redevelopment Agency

Arts District, Redevelopment Agency

Agency makes 2nd payment to Arts District

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The Redevelopment Agency last month authorized the second of three $100,000 payments to the Arts District to cover start-up costs of the Hamilton Stage for Performing Arts.

The Arts District and the Redevelopment Agency entered into a shared services agreement in January, with the agency agreeing to provide $300,000 in increments of $100,000 per year, based on the availability of funding.

The Arts District has “used and intends to continue to use the funding for costs associated with support, encouragement and promotion of the arts in Rahway and associated economic development,” including the start-up operation and management of the Hamilton Stage, a 200-seat black box studio being constructed on Hamilton Street (Tax Block 167, Lots 38, 39, 42, 44 and 45), according to the resolution adopted by the Redevelopment Agency at its Sept. 7 meeting.

As of last month, about $30,000 remains from the first $100,000 payment, according to Arts District Executive Director James Kennedy. Funding has been used primarily for the development of the three-year launch plan and projected budgets for the Hamilton Stage, he said, adding that they’re now moving into grant development, fundraising strategy, lease agreements, booking and implementation.

This month, a contract was entered into with Front of House Services, a Madison-based consultant that will see the project through the opening (expected next spring) and operating the first two years, Kennedy said.

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A friend passed along this story from The Atlantic, “Descendants of the High Line,” spotlighting four efforts around the country inspired by New York City’s wildly popular High Line, including the closest to home, Jersey City’s The Embankment.

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library

Water’s Edge proposal dropped to 108 units

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The Redevelopment Agency last night approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Meridia Water’s Edge, LLC, to develop a 108-unit rental complex on a three-quarter acre site adjacent to Rahway Public Library and the Center Circle sports complex on Main Street. (A revised rendering is in this Google document; once I can convert it into a .jpg, it’ll be added to this post).

Pompton Plains-based Capodagli Property Company initially proposed 116 units in a presentation to the agency in April, with 91 parking spaces. The number of spaces remain the same as in the original plan and an arrangement to use some 12 to 18 spaces in nearby municipal lots would have to be pursued.

The original plan called for 96 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom units; the revised plan presented last night includes 52 two-bedroom units and 56 one-bedrooms (42 of which will also have an office, some 50 square feet larger overall). Two-bedroom units would be 816 square feet. The plans note that a “market study will determine actual unit mix, sizes, placement and phases of development.”

George Capodagli told commissioners that he has a “firm commitment” from a bank and wants to close on the property soon. The Redevelopment Agency last month designated Capodagli as redeveloper, agreeing to sell the parcel for $1 million. The developer will be responsible for the cost of removing soil that’s been on the site from library construction earlier in the decade.

At closing, $500,000 will be due to the Redevelopment Agency and the second $500,000 of the sale price will be due upon the final Certificate of Occupancy (CO). The cost of soil removal will be credited toward the developer’s second payment but City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier expects the agency should still yield at least half of that payment. The city’s engineers will oversee and monitor the soil removal estimates and process, and Capodgali said his firm will do the work at cost.

Next, the City Council must approve amendments to the redevelopment plan, to be introduced next week and approved next month. The Planning Board also will be presented with plans later this month for recommendation to City Council before it considers site plan approval, likely at its September meeting.

There was some discussion about the project being within a flood plain. Commissioner Timothy Nash asked how residents would get into the building should the area be two to three feet under water. Capodagli said they likely would not have access to the building and the management company would have to make provisions for that and to disclose that in lease agreements. The back of the project would abut the levee, next to the property line with Rahway Plaza Apartments — toward the back of the library parking lot — while the front entrance would face the Center Circle complex (forming a sort of triangle that’s flatted at the top, which would be the front entrance. Got it? Working on uploading/scanning designs).

Officials were confident though that the area has not flooded since the levee was built along the Rahway River. Nash recalled Tropical Storm Floyd in September 1999 — which destroyed the former library where Berzinec Park is today — as  the worst flooding situation and the site did not flood then.

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Interesting story from NPR last month (“How A Park Helped One Town Weather The Recession”) about Greenville, S.C., and its development efforts, which included a $13-million, 20-acre downtown park and public garden created in 2004. Within two years, it’s estimated that $100 million in private investment occurred around the park. Sounds like a success story akin to New York City’s new High Line Park, which is looking to be replicated elsewhere. But there’s more to it – obviously – than just the park. It’s worth the quick read/listen.

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City Council, taxes

S&P gives Rahway AA rating; debt ‘moderate’

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Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service assigned a AA rating and stable outlook to Rahway in advance of its $11.65-million bond sale this past spring. “The city’s tax base has experienced, what we consider, limited, but stable, growth; it increased by 2.1 percent since fiscal 2007 to $1.55 billion in fiscal 2010.

This equates to a per-capita market value of $134,775, a level we consider extremely strong.” That net debt as a percentage of average equalized valuation was 1.4 percent, as of March 1, while the statutory limit is 3.5 percent.

“The city’s overall debt burden, which includes overlapping governmental units, is a moderate $4,943 per capita, or 3.7 percent of market value, and debt service accounts for a moderate 8 percent of operating expenditures. Other than the bond issuance for the Merck tax appeal repayment, officials do not plan to issue additional debt in the near future,” according to the report.

Here’s a breakdown of the city’s valuation, by class. Notice that “Industrial” used to be about 24 percent of the total and this year is down to about 21 percent. The total for “Residential” has remained largely unchanged in recent years but still jumped from 64 percent of the city’s total to 66 percent this year, while “Apartment” is up by more than 12 percent, jumping to more than 3 percent of the city’s total.

The almost 4-percent decline in the tax base in 2011, according to S&P, is likely the result of the tax appeal by Merck, as well as the general economic downturn. It appears that the valuation is expected to drop another 1.3 percent next year as a result of the tax appeal, barring any other new changes.

The tax appeal settlement knocked off $62.7 million from Merck’s 2011 assessment to $249.75 million, which totaled property taxes of $27.7 million, according to the mayor’s February letter regarding the appeal. The company’s 2012 assessment will be reduced by $82.4 million, to $230 million. A review of property tax records shows Merck owns different 19 parcels in Rahway, ranging in size from less than an acre to 37 acres for a total 91 acres and broken down in this Google spreadsheet.

If any other interesting tidbits come out of the bond sale documents, I’ll post them.

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City Council

Bond sale included $7.8M for redevelopment

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It’s long overdue for some details about the city’s bond sale this past spring that I promised last month when I posted the city’s top 10 property taxpayers.

The city borrowed almost $12 million in general improvement bonds, including almost $8 million for redevelopment- and arts-related items.

Ten of the 22 items in the $11.765 million bond sale were related to redevelopment, totaling $7.78 million for redevelopment, more than half of it related to the Hamilton Street arts projects. About $783,750 was authorized in 2007, which covered architectural concept plans, planning and engineering, surveying, DEP permitting, floor plans and elevations, and demolition of the Hamilton Laundry building. Another $4.5 million was authorized last year, but only $3 million borrowed so far, for the Arts District’s amphitheater, which would cover the renovation of the Bell Building (now referred to as the Hamilton Stage), construction of the amphitheater, acquisition of arts related equipment and eventual acquisition of the Elizabethtown Gas building (Block 167, Lot 1).

A breakdown of the 10 items, some dating back to 2000, can be found in this Excel file, including the amounts authorized and bonds issued, along with a brief description. At the April bond sale, the city secured a rate just below 4.51 percent over 20 years from J.P. Morgan (UBS Financial was the other bidder, coming in at under 4.59 percent). The bonds mature annually on April, beginning in 2012 at $350,000, increasing to $450,000 in 2015, $550,000 in 2016, $560,000 in 2017 and $640,000 in 2018, before leveling out at $700,000 annually through 2030. The complete maturity schedule can be found in this Excel file.

In tomorrow’s post, we’ll take a look at what Standard & Poor’s had to say in its report on the city.

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NJ Monthly magazine’s Table Hopping with Rosie paid a visit to Patria Restaurant and Mixology Lounge. She called it “a place in NJ that should be on your must-try list.” Overall, she had quite a few good things to say, calling the garlic shrimp better than anything found in Newark, and advising not to miss some entrees (including Patria pork, and I must agree) as well as dessert.

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library

Agency to sell parcel for $1 million

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The Redevelopment Agency plans to sell a three-quarter acre parcel near the library to a developer for $1 million. Pompton Plains-based Capodagli Property Company would remove a stockpile of contaminated soil in exchange for a deduction on the sale price. The developer has proposed Meridia Water Edge, a 116-unit rental property on the site, just south of the library and adjacent to the Center Circle and Rahway Plaza Apartments, but the project still must be approved.

City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said the city will monitor movement of the soil and obtain estimates to ensure the developer isn’t making money off the deal, but did not have specifics immediately available as to the the cost or deduction. The Redevelopment Agency at its meeting last week awarded a $25,350 contract to Whitestone Associates to monitor the removal of the soil stockpile just south of the library.The stockpile of contaminated soil came from the library construction of the library in the early 2000s.

The Capodagli firm is eager to begin as soon as possible and already has paid several hundred thousand dollars in water and sewer permits for the project, Pelissier told commissioners. The administration also has been meeting with owners of the Center Circle and office condos on the upper levels of the library to keep them abreast of the Meridia Water Edge proposal.

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Apartments, Downtown

The Savoy steel finally coming down?

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In what might be the first bit of good news about The Savoy property in years, the bank behind the project has orders to level the site — steel and all.

Continue reading The Savoy steel finally coming down? →

Arts District, Parking, Rahway

Bids rejected for interim parking at theater site

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The Redevelopment Agency rejected two bids for construction of interim parking at the site of the proposed Hamilton Street amphitheater. A new bid could be awarded by next month.

The two bidders — Berto Construction and Gingerelli Bros. — were about $500,000 apart, one reason why they were rejected, according to City Engineer James Housten, though seven contractors purchased bid packets. (Gingerelli Bros. earlier this year was awarded the $5.825-million bid for the Hamilton Stage project at the Bell Building.)

When the Redevelopment Agency decided several months ago to put the amphitheater on hold and instead build an interim parking lot at the Hamilton Street site, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determined that a different permit would be required, Housten said. Meetings with state officials, however, have led to a more favorable recommendation, he said, with the process and cost to a less than if the agency had followed the DEP’s original edict and see another permit.

Part of the bid included removing remediated soil, which Housten said will be tested and determined exactly what it contains and how much there is. That process might provide for less expensive bids when the project goes out to bid next week. He hopes to have a resolution to award a new contract at the agency’s August meeting.

Early this year, the Redevelopment Agency decided to delay building the amphitheater and instead construct an interim parking lot to accommodate the Hamilton Stage. Commissioners also held off on acquiring three remaining homes on Hamilton Street that were slated to eventually become parking areas.

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Uncategorized

Art gallery/tattoo parlor gets approval

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A combination art gallery and tattoo parlor gained approval from the Redevelopment Agency. Times Of Grace would be located at 1417 Main St., previously occupied on occasion by a Jackson Hewitt Tax Service office.

Robert Mankowski and his wife, Hayley, made a presentation to commissioners at the agency’s monthly meeting this week. Both are graduates of the University of The Arts in Philadelphia and have had their work shown around the nation.

Director of Community Development and Redevelopment Agency Secretary Cindy Solomon told commissioners that a resolution would be necessary not for the art gallery but the tattoo parlor planned to go with it. A tattoo parlor is not a permitted use in the business district so a resolution was required by the Redevelopment Agency, similar to when Rose City Tattoos moved in on West Main Street.

The fine arts gallery would be visible from the street but the tattoo parlor would be in the rear of the space and by appointment only, said Mankowski, who would be the lone tattoo artist. He aims to avoid a stereotypical tattoo parlor that people might think of when they think of tattoos (“No neon signs”), but instead draw people inside through the artwork on display.

A couple of commissioners preferred that the art gallery be more prominent than the tattoo parlor in any signage, and that the resolution also specific the limited number of tattoo artists and the fact that it would be by appointment only.

Mankowski, who first hand-draws each custom tattoo, hopes to open the gallery/tattoo parlor later this summer.

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