Owners of two small downtown lots are interested in possibly developing the properties.
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During his report to commissioners at the regular monthly meeting on March 17, Executive Director Robert Landolfi said there’s been outreach from two property owners in the Central Business District (CBD) about potential development on the infill sites.
Commissioner Tim Nash asked what sites those are. One is a vacant West Main Street lot that backs up to the Robinson’s Branch of the Rahway River, between Cambridge Court Apartments and Monchy’s, adjacent to three residential buildings. Another is adjacent to RSI bank that currently houses A&M Industrial Supply in a two-story building on West Cherry Street.
Both owners want to talk about some form of residential development, according to Landolfi. “There’s been some discussion with them, I’m not sure if it will bear fruit or not but I would think at least one of them will,” he said.
In a follow-up telephone interview last week, Landolfi said the West Main Street property could come before the Redevelopment Agency with a concept by April or May. “I’m not going to say it’s going to pan out but they’re pretty far along in terms of their desire to move forward with the project,” he said.
The proximity to the river likely will factor into any potential development, whether it’s located in a flood plain or some type of permitting from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Landolfi said.
The West Main Street lot appears to be Block 161, Lots 4 and/or 5. Property records indicate the owner is 141 W Main Street, LLC, which acquired the property in November for $100,000. Combined, the lots are assessed for $61,400, generating property taxes of $4,251.95 this year.
The West Cherry Street property, at the corner of Campbell Street, appears to be Block 154, Lot 7.01, which is assessed for $483,400 and generated property taxes of $33,958 this year. It’s adjacent to Lot F, a surface parking lot owned by the city’s Parking Utility.
Combined, the West Cherry Street lot and Lot F would be about 1 acre – directly across from the Rahway Train Station. Whether the two lots would potentially be acquired or combined for redevelopment remains to be seen.
“We need to contemplate the effects of COVID and how they’re going to impact everything from transit-oriented development (TOD) to the build out of retail and office space,” Landolfi said. “To put in a broad stroke question: how did COVID long-term impact TOD. I don’t know what the answer to that is but we need to look at that,” he said. “Not in formal way but we have started to look at that. That would impact that parking lot, it could just impact the way we look at things,” he said.
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