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.
Just what we need – More empty buildings in Rahway – BTW, I heard that the Sky View is going section 8 on some of its floors – Any truth to that ?
I totally agree with the comment above. This is development on steroids. It seems every bit of vacant land in my small hometown has been occupied by some sort of construction or other. Just before my husband and I were parking to go into the antique store on Main Street, I looked at that huge monstrosity of a condotel and sighed. Are there even enough viable businesses in the downtown area to support such a "boom" in construction? Too much of anything is bad, and I for one regret this housing surge. I guess Sky View has no other alternative but to accept Section 8, and that's a shame. This was supposed to be the next best thing for the city and mark its revival, but aren't they more than half vacant and in foreclosure???
I've been "hearing" about SkyView going Section 8 since it was under construction — but it seems to be nothing more than rumor since the only sources over the years hvae been anonymous commenters.