Some eight months after breaking ground, the five-story Gramercy development along East Cherry Street has topped out.
The $13.5-million project will feature 42 units and will include ground-floor retail space of about 1,200 square feet, which is slated to be a coffee shop. The retail space will occupy the corner of what eventually will be East Cherry Street and Monroe Street, across from the Waiting Room.
As part of The Gramercy development and the adjacent Main & Monroe project, which has not yet broken ground, Monroe Street will be extended across Main Street, through what is today the Parking Authority’s Lot B. The cost to extend the public street will be split between the city and developers of The Gramercy (R2-N2 Properties) and Main & Monroe (Slokker Real Estate Group).
The Gramercy was approved conceptually by the Redevelopment Agency in April 2015 at 33 units and gained Planning Board approval in November 2015 at 45 units. The Redevelopment Agency approved a resolution at its November meeting memorializing and accepting the plan at 42 units on paper.
Executive Director Leonard Bier explained to commissioners that as building permits were filed, two studio apartments were eliminated to create one two-bedroom unit but while the number of units decreased, the number of bedrooms did not. The number of parking spaces remained the same and there will be no facade change in connection with the move, he added.
Three buildings along East Cherry Street were demolished in March to make way for construction of the project.
Mountainside-based Netta Architects, a partner in R2-N2 Properties, designed The Gramercy and also has a project in Metuchen named Gramercy Square.
The Gramercy – vitals
- 44 E. Cherry St.
- Stories: 5
- Units: 42 — 23 one-bedroom units, 19 two-bedroom units
- Parking: 23 ground-floor spaces + 34 in Lewis Street parking deck
- PILOT: : 20 years starting at $78,000 in the first year
- Retail: 1,200 square feet
- Developer: R2-N2 Urban Renewal Properties (partnership between DMR Construction and Netta Architects)
