Despite the current state of the economy, the city is expected to receive a proposal next month that includes “several hundred retail prospects.”
Mark Lohbauer, a principal with Community Insights, the Merchantville-based firm that handled the first phase of the Rahway Survey, believes that ideally, targeted retailers will have had success with multiple locations but not necessarily be regional chains. Rahway “wants to be a distinctive destination,” he said, more along the lines of Mom-and-Pop stores with a higher level of retail savvy, “not hobbyists.”
As part of a report expected in January, Lohbauer said the city will receive a list of “several hundred retail prospects,” which could be 
matched up with potential space opportunities, and help developers determine what to pursue. Despite some retail that’s expected to go out of business after the holidays, he said his firm still sees listings for businesses looking to expand. With new construction, Lohbauer said it typically can take anywhere from 18 to 24 months between the time a tenant is identified, leases negotiated and space finally occupied, all of which ideally occurs during construction.
Previous Rahway Survey posts:
Joint advertising, co-op marketing
Retail recruitment, retention recommendations
Retail demands of new growth
Three distinct retail districts downtown
Enough demand for 18 restaurants
Retail supply and demand
Restaurants would draw us downtown (among other things)
Rahway Survey results are in
Wanted: progress on the Park Square apartments, which have sat in a state of “90% completed” for months now.These aren’t condos that are having problems due to the housing market … these were always supposed to be rentals.What’s taking so long to get them off the ground?
Matthew, I would like to hear whats going on with PS as well.Meanwhile, what is this?http://newjersey.craigslist.org/apa/953775458.htmlIs Silcon acting as an agent for owners looking to rent their condos, or, are they just going ahead and renting out the leftover units.Mark, I thought you said that Silcon would have to get approval from the ReDev authority before they could turn remaining units into rentals? Any idea what is going on here?
People who had bought condos are hiring realtors and renting their units. One can find multiple posting of skyview condos (for rent) on Realtor.com
New – I get that. My post was in reference to a rental in Skyview where Silcon is acting as the Realtor. I just wanted to distinguish whether Silcon is acting as a broker on the rental, or, are they actually renting out the units that have not yet been sold? There is a big difference if they are trying to rent out unsold units, vs acting as an agent for owners who want to rent their units out.Per the Redev Authority, you can’t just build condos and then decide, oh well, no one wants to buy these so lets just rent them out.