Meridia Water’s Edge, a 108-unit rental complex that broke ground last year behind the library and Center Circle facility, is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
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Proposal would put 250 units on Center Circle site
Three, five-story buildings containing almost 250 rental apartments would replace The Center Circle and reconfigure parking and access around City Hall Plaza, according to a concept plan presented to the Redevelopment Agency last week.
Continue reading Proposal would put 250 units on Center Circle site
Meridia Water’s Edge coming along
Having reached its apex earlier this spring, construction at the five-story Meridia Water’s Edge continues, shaping the 108-unit project adjacent to the Center Circle and Rahway Public Library.
The building will include 52 two-bedroom units, 38 one-bedrooms with an office and 18 one-bedroom units. Units will range from 672 square feet to 850 square feet, with rents of $1,400 to $1,550. The ground floor will include 87 parking spaces, with another 22 spaces to be created within the adjacent library lot.
Capodagli Property Co., now based in West New York, acquired the three-quarter acre site from the Redevelopment Agency for $1 million in January 2012 but was credited for the expense of removing soil from the property (which was estimated to cost about $160,000. The City Council approved a 10-year Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) financial agreement in March 2012. The agreement will begin with a $216,000 payment in the first year and rise in future years based on gross revenue, with an tax break estimated at $170,000 annually.
Meridia Water’s Edge reaches apex
The five-story Meridia Water’s Edge appears to have reached its highest point.
The 108-unit project between the library and Rahway Plaza Apartments broke ground last spring and will include 52 two-bedrooms, 38 one-bedrooms with an office, and 18 one-bedrooms. The Planning Board approved an application that included just 87 parking spaces, with the developer, Capodagli Property Company, to secure another 21 parking spaces from the Rahway River Condominium Association (which owns the building in which the library is located, along with the office space on the upper floors).
Construction manager Jim Wendell told the Redevelopment Agency at its meeting in January that the building likely would top out by sometime in March.
Water’s Edge to rise over next several weeks
Meridia Water’s Edge, a 108-unit project under construction between the library and Rahway Plaza Apartments, will begin rising significantly over the next month.
The five-story building should top out within the next five weeks, according to construction manager Jim Wendell, who briefed the Redevelopment Agency at its Jan. 9 meeting. Trusses are ready to be shipped and the building will be “really going vertical in the next four to five weeks,” he said. “It’ll really be coming alive.”
The development being built adjacent to the Center Circle complex originally was scheduled to be completed by May, and groundbreaking occurred last spring.
Nearly $500k in damage to rec center, library
Rahway Public Library and Recreation Center were among the “victims” of Hurricane Sandy, with damages running as much as a half-million dollars to the two facilities.
The City Council last month approved a $750,000 bond ordinance (O-35-12), including a downpayment of $35,715, for various improvements to city facilities damaged in the October storm. The largest item listed in the ordinance was $285,000 for the acquisition, installation and replacement of the floor at the Recreation Center, and another $205,000 for acquisition, installation and replacement of the roof at the library.
There also was $155,000 for acquisition, installation and replacement of various office furniture and equipment at City Hall and $105,000 for the repair of the roof and acquisition, installation and replacement of various equipment at the Department of Public Works.
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The bond ordinance was prepared until insurance comes in but the Redevelopment Agency might pursue the builder of the library for damage incurred if it’s not covered by insurance. The city plans to file for reimbursement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for costs due to Sandy, including physical damage as well as overtime salaries and additional expenses allowed, such as hiring of out-of-state tree crews, according to City Council President Samson Steinman, though he said there’s no estimated total yet.
During his report to the Redevelopment Agency last month, City Engineer James Housten said the membrane that was attached to the library roof came loose during Sandy’s high winds, causing tears around the drains and columns, de-laminating the membrane and tearing it from the insulation.
The tears and drains were repaired to keep from losing the membrane and temporarily reinforce it. Roof replacement likely would be necessary in the near future, which Housten estimated at about $150,000, on top of about $35,000 to reinforce the membrane. The drains connected to the plumbing were never attached to the framework, allowing the wind to lift them up, he said. There was a 15-year warranty on the roof, but only up to winds of 55 mph, but if it was cause by improper installation, he added, it might not be covered by insurance.
The 75,000-square-foot facility opened in 2004, with $3 million of the $15-million construction cost coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), another $7.4 million from federal and state governments, $1.4 million from the state Office of Emergency Management, $1 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and $2 million from the New Jersey State Public Library.
The library was built as a public-private partnership. The Redevelopment Agency remains a member of the condominium association that manages the facility along with the owner of the top two floors of office space which was acquired in 2009 for $4.55 million, The old library, at the corner of St. Georges and Central avenues, was destroyed by Tropical Storm Floyd in September 1999.
Neighboring Carteret had planned to request $53 million from FEMA for damage to public and private property. In Passaic County, the federal government had planned to buy 65 homes damaged during last year’s Tropical Storm Irene.
Marketing agency to tout redevelopment
The Redevelopment Agency awarded a professional services contract of $135,500 to The DavidHenry Agency for advertising and marketing consulting services that will include brochures, video, a website and app touting the city’s redevelopment efforts over the past decade and a half.
Agency closes on sale for Water’s Edge parcel
The Redevelopment Agency last month closed on the $1-million sale of a three-quarter-acre parcel where a 108-unit rental complex will begin construction this spring. Pompton Plains-based Capodagli Property Company will undertake the project under the name Meridia Water’s Edge Urban Renewal, LLC.
Continue reading Agency closes on sale for Water’s Edge parcel