The first phase of The Brownstones, about a third of the overall units approved for construction, is closing in on completion but phase two will remain up in the air for the foreseeable future.

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City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Robert Landolfi told commissioners at the June 3 Redevelopment Agency meeting, which took place via Zoom, that Linden-based Capodagli Property Company will not proceed to phase two and instead will undertake a study to determine what phase two should be, including possible alternatives uses for the property.

The first phase of The Brownstones started about two years ago, with 172 units breaking ground at Elizabeth and West Grand avenues. The Brownstones was approved in 2014 as a four-building, 487-unit rental apartment complex that was to be constructed over five years.

The developer is looking to renegotiate the redevelopment agreement, Landolfi said. He promised any renegotiation would require Capodagli to complete the courtyard and improvements for both phase one and phase two, including amenities. There will be a revised agreement before the agency at some point, he said.

“This was a pre-COVID emergency pandemic discussion,” Landolfi said. At the time, the city agreed when the developer floated exploring possible alternative uses, bringing in an urban planner or designer. “I can’t imagine that would be an increase in the number of units,” he said. “It could be residential in a different form, it could be a completely different use,” including a decrease in the number of units and size, he said in a telephone interview earlier today.

“When a developer is expressing concern moving forward, one of the last things you want to do is say, ‘This is your plan, build it or else,'” Landolfi said. The project was behind schedule and the city had conversations, it was an outgrowth of that, collectively, to take a look at what makes sense for phase two, he said.

It’s unclear what motivated the change of pace by Capodagli on the development prior to the pandemic. The 50-year-old company has several ongoing and completed developments in downtowns across New Jersey, including Hackensack, Westfield and Bound Brook, where one of its construction projects suffered a catastrophic fire in January.

Capodgali has constructed three other projects in Rahway: the 88-unit Meridia Grand on East Grand Avenue; the 115-unit Meridia Lafayette Village at Maine and Monroe streets, and the 108-unit Meridia Water’s Edge at City Hall Plaza.

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