Excuse the recent hiatus, there have been a few things going on, between a side project, computer issues and fighting crime. It’s officially summer too, so it’s been a little slow, but there should be some new posts this week — stay tuned.
Tag Archives: The Savoy
The Savoy: “Not dead”
The developers of The Savoy are still in search of financing, but the project is “not dead,” according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier. Briefing commissioners during last week’s Redevelopment Agency meeting, Pelissier said Hillside-based Dornoch/Maplewood Homes is still waiting to get a financial commitment.
The 36-unit project proposed at 1562 Main St. hasn’t seen any activity since last summer.
Not dead yet. Sort of reminds me of the Will Ferrell character from the 1997 movie, Austin Powers: “No, not dead. Burned. Badly.”
The Savoy to resume in the spring?
The Savoy apparently has been approved for financing and the hope is that construction will resume this spring on the 36-unit project. There’s been virtually no activity on the site since last summer.
City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier told the City Council and Redevelopment Agency this week that Mayor James Kennedy received a phone call from Glen Fishman, managing director with Dornoch, that financing had been approved. Dornoch had been re-negotiating with Wachovia.
Hillside-based Dornoch Management also is completing The Monarch, a senior housing/condo project in Plainfield. That project, which appears much further along, apparently has units starting at $199,000, a 45 percent correction over the $360,000 asking price when ground was broken 18 months ago. Banners adorning the fencing at The Savoy as recently as last summer boasted of units starting at $315,000.
Carriage City Plaza tops 2008 stories
Blog readers voted overwhelmingly for the opening of Carriage City Plaza and the Hotel Indigo as the biggest redevelopment story of 2008.
Opening of Carriage City Plaza, 54 percent (37/68)
The slow pace of redevelopment, 19 percent (13/68)
The Savoy coming to a halt, 8 percent (6/68)
Reopening of the Union County Arts Center, 8 percent (6/68)
The fast pace of redevelopment, 5 percent (4/68)
Tabulation of the Rahway Survey, 2 percent (2/68)
While most readers pointed to Carriage City, there were almost a third of them who pointed to signs of the slowing economy, like The Savoy coming to a halt and the slow pace of redevelopment. Keep in mind that the survey is far from scientific at all.
The new poll will be up after the Super Bowl. It’s a repeat from last year but we have a few more readers so I thought it’d be interesting to take another look.
“Who makes your favorite pizza in Rahway?”
Brooklyn Pizza
Gino’s
Michelino’s
Nancy’s Townhouse
Papa Vito
Rahway Pizza
Ted’s
Tony’s
The Savoy seeking financing
Developers of The Savoy are trying to renegotiate a loan with Wachovia bank, City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier reported at last week’s Redevelopment Agency meeting. Pelissier said he’s received messages from Glen Fishman, managing director of Hillside-based Dornoch Management, indicating the firm is still committed to completing the 36-unit condo project. Pelissier estimated Dornoch already has invested $3.5 million in the project.
Dornoch’s investors, a hedge fund based in Holland, apparently are looking for a lender before they make another capital call, Pelissier said, adding that a loan had been in place until it was called in to renegotiate by Wachovia. Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia was acquired by Wells Fargo last October after overtures from Citigroup. If Dornoch can’t get a loan, Pelissier said, The Savoy may become rentals but the firm is aiming to complete the project as the originally proposed condos.
Pelissier said Fishman wants to complete The Savoy as for-sale condos, before moving onto the firm’s other projects along East Cherry Street (the storefronts that include The Beverage Shop). Fishman has told city officials that he’s interested in selling the burned out East Cherry Street property which Dornoch purchased from the Parking Authority and as recently as November 2007 had plans to renovate it.
The Savoy’s retail space has been marketed by The Schultz Organization, a Woodbridge-based commercial real estate firm, as recently as December with a projected occupancy of “fourth quarter 2009.”
State of the City 2009
Though I was unable to attend Monday’s City Council meeting, I did get a copy of Mayor James Kennedy’s State of the City address. The mayor is among a long list of officials looking for help from the feds.
“I retain optimism that this slowdown will only be temporary and the incoming administration of President-Elect Obama will provide long-overdue federal funds to invest in our roads, sewers, parks and other vital elements of our infrastructure,” Kennedy said. “Unlike other municipalities, Rahway has many projects that are already approved by the authorizing boards and agencies. Our improvements and investments will enhance our redevelopment opportunities. So that the ‘shovels can hit the ground’ as soon as the economy rebounds and our continuing redevelopment efforts will restart in a period of months instead of years,” he said.
Among the projects Kennedy cited as “ready to begin” are the 88-unit Renaissance at Rahway and 116-unit Station Place. The Savoy, he said, will “restart construction when additional financing is obtained.” (Photo at left)
As for other redevelopment-related highlights in his remarks, the mayor reviewed the various ongoing projects that you’ve read about here before:
— New ratables increased the tax base by $30 million for the nine-month period in 2008. A full year on the books is expected to create $42 million in 2009. A little perspective: ratables increased by about $30,000,000; the city’s total valuation is about $1,500,000,000 ($1.5 billion). The added ratables — mainly attributed to Carriage City Plaza, Luciano’s and Riverwalk — generated about $900,000 in additional tax revenues for the city.
— In addition to the planned 1,000-seat amphitheater at the former Hamilton Laundry site, and development of the former Bell Telephone building into a performing arts space and black box theatre, the former Elizabethtown Gas building is expected to be purchased and house a “first-rate art school as well as a co-op gallery venue.”
— “The 40,000 square feet of condominium space above the library was sold last year, and will be conv
erted into office space sometime this year.” The library opened in 2004 with the idea of eventually selling the top two floors for office space. No word on whether the sale netted the $3.5 million that was expected at the time to help offset the cost of the $7.4-million facility. [UPDATE: SDI Technologies already paid $3.2 million to the city for this project, according to City Administrator Peter Pelissier.]
— The city is “exploring a partnership with the Parking Authority to construct a 300- to 500-space parking deck on Lot B, to complement the proposed Westbury housing/retail development next door.” We wrote about this study in August but there was never any mention of the number of spaces. Originally, The Westbury was planned with a five-story, 324-space parking facility.
For some historical perspective, there are a few paragraphs about the mayor’s 2005 State of the City address here.
Welcome back, Poll
We took a peek at the top posts of 2008 by number of page views over the weekend. Tonight we’re bringing back the poll after a months-long absence and letting you vote: What was the biggest story of 2008 on the blog? Obviously, the decline in the housing market and the collapse of the economy in general had an effect locally, but what was the most significant development locally?
* The opening of Carriage City Plaza/Hotel Indigo
* Work at The Savoy coming to a halt
* Tabulation of the Rahway Survey
* The reopening of the Union County Arts Center
* The slow pace of redevelopment in general
* The fast pace of redevelopment in general
* Other
There’s always that “Other” category, so feel free to explain what that might be to you.
Still quiet at The Savoy
With no work going on at The Savoy, now there’s not even any word from its developers.
Redevelopment Director and City Administrators Peter Pelissier reported at last month’s Redevelopment Agency meeting that the agency’s attorney has been unsuccessful in reaching attorneys representing Dornoch Holdings.
Pelissier said Dornoch is represented by Al Faiella, who for what it’s worth had some interesting dealings in Newark redevelopment.
Given the market, the guess here — and that’s all it is — is that The Savoy will go the way of other projects and shift to rentals. That would require an amendment to its redevelopment agreement, which would need approval from the Redevelopment Agency. The credit crunch has done the same thing to other projects in Rahway. Another Dornoch project, The Lofts, shifted to lease-to-buy options with three of the four units signed up at Irving and East Cherry streets. (Here’s an AM New York report about condo inventory rising amidst slumping sales in New York.)
Pelissier reported at the last Redevelopment Agency meeting (Nov. 12) that the mayor, in speaking with Dornoch principal Glen Fishman about the burned out East Cherry Street property, indicated he’s interested in selling and there may be a buyer.
Dornoch received approval last year for a plan to renovate that site, where a fire occurred some five years ago. Dornoch also acquired a strip of East Cherry on the other side of the street, along with multiple properties along Main Street in anticipation of The Westbury. That project is essentially on hold as the city and Parking Authority move forward on their own with the parking component.
Dornoch had been considered for the Hamilton Street project that would rehabilitate the Shami Apartments for senior and/or artist housing and turn the Bell Building into an arts space but you can expect that redeveloper’s designation will expire and another developer sought.