There have been 34 temporary certificates of occupancy (TCO) issued for units at Sky View at Carriage City Plaza, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier. Elizabeth-based Silcon Construction, which built the hotel, has paid $649,000 in water connection and permit fees, Pelissier reported at last week’s City Council pre-conference meeting.
The Redevelopment Agency is to receive $10,000 at the closing of each unit as per the redevelopment agreement. TCOs are issued when units are ready to close, which some units have done.
Rahway Rising reported last month that about half of the 209 units at Sky View were under contract and expected to close by the end of this month, according to representatives Silcon.
Hotel Indigo, the first four floors of Carriage City Plaza, is in operation and had a ribbon cutting ceremony two weeks ago. The hotel will have 20,000 square feet of retail space, which will include a 7,000-square-foot restaurant (allegedly “a national brand steakhouse well known in New Jersey”), Cuppy’s Coffee and a dry cleaners. And there are two meeting areas, including the Kennedy Center (named for the mayor?).
I stopped into the hotel’s Phi Lounge after last Thursday’s wine tasting at Train Station Plaza (where I happened to meet loyal blog reader Alexis and his wife!). Not unlike other hotel bars (slightly overpriced), the lounge is nice enough, though it didn’t look quite finished decor-wise. No word on when the rooftop bar will open, which is what everyone seems to be looking forward to.
Big difference between what’s expected to close and what will actually close. Silcon’s reps are rarely honest so take that info with a grain of salt. Most buyers under now contract are unable to meet the increased down payments required by lenders now. Check back in a month and I’ll bet they are still open. Once an apartment closes, is that on public record? I’d really like to see that info.
Tenants are going to love it when construction begins to make that parking deck taller.Of course, they live next to the train tracks – they shouldn’t mind the noise.
The Skyview apartments facing the garage are cheaper than those not facing it. Imagine you find out that the higher priced apartment slightly above the parking deck that you purchased will now be facing the parking deck. That will not go over too well.
You can see records of sales here… http://tax1.co.monmouth.nj.us/cgi-bin/prc6.cgi?menu=index&ms_user=glou&passwd=data&district=0801&mode=11Search for block 316
Can someone please provide additional info on the parking deck expansion??? Is the deck going to be made taller? How much taller?
Thanks for the info Mike. It looks like it’s just tax records and not a record of closings though. It’s strange though because each unit still lists the developer as the owner. According to the website it looks like none of the units closed.
Mike, what relevance does Clayton,NJ have?
The website doesn’t get updated with the new owners until they close and register the new owners. It may also be delayed just a bit.
There are at least 7 units available for rent at Skyview. 1BRs and 2BRs as well. Prices range from $1700 to $2700 per month. With the largest unit at River Place going for $2250 per its website, it will be interesting to meet the person who would rather pay $450 more per month for a smaller apt. with a view (I am assuming its one with a nice view) of Manhattan or the Watchung Mountains.
Talking about closings – what does everyone think about multi-families in the downtown area? I was attracted to Rahway in 2001 and began buying 2 and 4 family homes – there are many cheap bargains that need work, some on Fulton, Cherry, etc. Do you think these multifamilies will increase in value as the downtown area becomes more populated and eventually, pricey..??Tony
I have a unit on the 11th floor facing the train station that closed last Monday. I believe i was the 15th close as of then.The units facing “New York” are actually around 15k+ more expensive than the view of the west (at least for the upper floors).I’m definitely satisfied with my purchase. The views of the Watchung mountains are awesome. Also, as long as my window is closed, I can’t hear the trains at all.
I have to say I saw an apartment yesterday and the building is going to be beautiful. The lobby of the hotel is nice and there will be a concierge/doorman in front of the elevators to the private residences. It would be a perfect bachelor pad-you come home and can have a drink at the bar in the lounge,have dinner in the steakhouse downstairs, go upstairs to work out in a gym facility that will be state of the art, then go to the roof top bar or garden to hang out. It was much nicer then I originally thought. You can’t hear the trains at all from the 7th floor but they look cool coming into the station….I looked at a unit facing the garage and the view was still nice….all in all I think this is a very cool way to live ….hotel living in the middle of New Jersey…steps away from the train….I think it is going to add so much to the downtown……
I’M SO GLAD TO HEAR SOME POSITIVE COMMENTS SO MANY PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS NEGATIVE ABOUT THINGS . FOLKS LIFE IS TO SHORT TO WORRY ABOUT THINGS YOU CAN’T CONTROL . RAHWAY IS COMING ALONG SLOWLY BUT SURELY
sounds like Silcon reps if you ask me
Haha, yeah def. The view from the unit facing the garage was nice??? The trains coming into the station looks cool??? C’mon, I think readers are smarter than that. Def Silcon reps.
I wonder if any of the Negative Nellie’s here have actually taken the time to go check out some of these things. I have.The hotel lobby IS beautiful. Cool and hip looking, just as advertised.Yes, it’s not done yet, but it will be soon. I agree with the other poster; I think it’ll be great to come home from work, pick up your dry cleaning or UPS or other delivery from the concierge, hit the gym, then either make dinner or visit the restaurant in the building or in the neighborhood. There’ll be two lounges, one in the lobby and one on the roof for socializing. Yes, it’s not all here right now, but clearly not too far off….Honestly, I can’t see why some people need to cr@p on it…This sort of full-service apartment building is new for NJ, and particularly for anywhere around here. The idea takes some getting used to, but if you think about it for a bit, and the target buyers as working adults (not home during the day, appreciate the extra services, want and are willing to pay for them) I think it makes a lot of sense…
Mustn't forget the 30 minute train ride to Manhattan that has been fabricated in their features & amenities… Has anyone looked at the NJ Transit schedule recently?Would have been more accurate to say *around* 30 minutes from Manhattan to Rahway once or twice a day, if you catch the right semi-express, and it happens to leave on time, not delayed by Amtrak signal issues or another train stuck in the tunnel.In all fairness, I've clocked 12 minutes to Newark Airport, and they listed it at 17.http://www.skyviewliving.com/features.html-NN
Good point – the train is never 30mins, some false advertising there.If Skyview is such a great offer like the Silcon rep, I mean Anonymous has suggested, then why is there building still empty and they are still pushing sales so hard years after they started. Also, why are they stealing people’s deposits if they have no problem filling the building. What a bunch of scammers.
anony 2:00pmHere is where you give yourself away as a Silcon rep and/or second-guessing Skyview owner:”This sort of full-service apartment building is new for NJ, and particularly for anywhere around here.”New for NJ? Are you kidding? I guess if you have spent the past 10 years in East Jersey State prison it might seem novel to have a dry cleaner in your buliding.How about the Siena in Montclair or the Residences at Livingston Town Center or 40 Park in Morristown, etc.?I won’t even start with Jersey City and Hoboken because of their proximity to New York City.
Anon 2:00 brought up the arrival of the full service condo building to NJ. I was looking at maintenance fees of $375 per month and taxes of about $5000, and I didn’t get far enough to discover the hidden fees which we all know are coming (Exhibit A: Parking). A 1-BR unit seemed like an ok value until I added in the maintenance and the taxes, both of which are higher than comparable units in other complexes. $375 for a gym and some guy to pick up my dry cleaning? The target audience for this type of building can afford ZIP codes that have already redeveloped (or haven’t needed it) and it can afford to be 30 actual minutes from the city if not NYC itself, not 30 Skyview minutes (1 Skyview minute = 1.8 minutes, which I must have missed in science class). Look at One Spring Street or The Heldrich Center in New Brunswick as a Ghost of Skyview Future – the MLS is swamped with units. I think the builders overestimated the size of their buyer pool and ignored signals of the end of the real estate party, and are now playing games with deposit money to force buyers to close.
FOR SOME OF YOU GUYS WHO WRITE ON THIS BLOG IT SEEMS AS IF YOU WANT RAHWAY TO FAIL. FORGET ABOUT MONTCLAIR MUST OF YOU CAN’T SNIFF MONTCLAIR OR MORRISTOWN SO WHY COMPARE. WE HAVE A NEW THING IN RAHWAY OS EMBRACE IT AND HOPE THAT IT SUCCEEDS INSTEAD OF FAILS. IF IT FAILS THEN IT WILL HURT ALOT OF PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN INCLUDING MYSELF. THIS TOWN HAS ALOT TO OFFER IF YOU STAY OFF THE NEGATIVE STUFF AND GET OUT AND ABOUT
I WAS UP NEAR THE TENNIS COURTS TODAY OFF ST GEORGE THAT PARK WAS CROWDED PLENT OF FOLKS ENJOYING A NICE SUMMER EVENING. GET OUT AND ABOUT AND ENJOY NICE WEATHER. BIULD UP INSTEAD OF TEARING DOWN
Lets hope all the new places downtown fill up, this will only help us ALL! The more people downtown will encorage others to maybe walk around, visit the new places to eat etc. The negs here probably hop in there cars and speed home once off the train.If you all live here too then having a better downtown only helps everyone, with property values ,maybe less street crime etc.If your not into skyview then dont buy there.
Lets hope all the new places downtown fill up, this will only help us ALL! The more people downtown will encorage others to maybe walk around, visit the new places to eat etc. The negs here probably hop in there cars and speed home once off the train.If you all live here too then having a better downtown only helps everyone, with property values ,maybe less street crime etc.If your not into skyview then dont buy there.
For what it’s worth I’m not hating on Rahway or on downtowns. I just don’t want to get taken to the cleaners by Skyview. The project is running the risk of becoming an albatross. I was turned off by their sterile corporate luxury, but some of the other projects in the planning phases are scaled more appropriately and are places I would have considered buying into. However plans can change and if Skyview is tanking, that doesn’t bode well for the city since other developments might get shelved or scaled back as a result. Downtown might not be a war zone, but it’s got a long way to go before it’s a yuppie paradise.
YOU HAVE A VERY GOOD POINT BUT LET’S GET OUT TO THE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS AND LET OUR UNIFIED VOICES BE HEARD. SO THAT THIS TOWN DOESN’T GO DOWN HILL BUT GOES FORWARD. I’M PRAYING LIKE EVERYONE ELSE THAT THINGS GO WELL.LET’S JUST BE POSITIVE IT WILL GET US ALOT FURTHER THAN THE NEGATIVE
I agree with you NCR about skyview not becoming a white elephant of sorts,that wouldnt help the redevelopment momentum. I do however like the floor plans of the SAVOY project and the scale of it is in good proportion to the surrounding area.
I agree with you NCR about skyview not becoming a white elephant of sorts,that wouldnt help the redevelopment momentum. I do however like the floor plans of the SAVOY project and the scale of it is in good proportion to the surrounding area.
OOPPS keep hittin that button twice!!
Stop writing in CAPS. Very uncool.
I LIKE CAPS,SORRY.UNITS AND BUILDING LOOK just OK TO ME, BUT THE BUILDER AND THE REST OF THE CREW ARE VERY DISHONEST PEOPLE. PLEASE DO NOT BUY IT IF YOU ARE THINKING TO DO IT. WHAT THEY ADVERTISE IS NOT ALL TRUE. WE WENT FOR THE WALK-THROUGH AND THE EXCUSES THEY GIVE FOR THINGS THAT THEY PROMISE AND ARE NOT DONE ARE STUPID. E.A. 1)THERE ARE NO CEILING LIGHTS IN THE LIVING/DINING AND BEDROOM AND THE RESPONSE FROM AN INDIAN WORKER AND SALES REP. WAS “THE CEILING IS CONCRETE AND THEY CAN NOT DO IT?2) “A MEDICINE CABINET CAN NOT BE INSTALLED BECAUSE OF METAL STUDS”IF YOU OUT THERE STILL WANT TO BUY, PLEASE MAKE THEM SIGN AND NOTORIZE ALL THEY ADVERTISE AND IF YOU ARE CHOSING AN UPGRADE PACKAGE MAKE SURE THAT EVERY LITTLE DETAIL IS LISTED.WE PAY FOR AN UPGRADE AND IT’S NOT WORTH IT. IN THE BATHROOM THEY DID NOT EVEN INSTALL A TOWEL BAR.
A friend of mine has a co-op in NYC and it has concrete ceilings and they can’t have overhead lights either.The only people who do are ones who had those ugly on the walls wires encased in plastic covers. His place was built in the 60’s so you would think by now they would have figured some way of doing this.
SORRY, BUT KNOWING THE WAY SILCON DO BUSINESS IS BECAUSE OF $$$$$
Yep…Money and time is saved in construction by not installing junction boxes and conduit for ceiling fixtures in the concrete. Typically you need around 6″-8″ of clearance for a light fixture, and architects/owners do not want to lose the ceiling height. An exception is the bathroom. Sometimes there is a lower ceiling to conceal required exhaust fans and the heating/cooling unit for the room, hence you usually have room to install a ceiling mounted (recessed) light fixture.
One other thing …. seems the seller (Skyview) will try to pass off the sewer and water hookup fee to the buyer. Don’t fall for it. It is not the buyer’s responsibility.
They just install ceiling lights in the kitchen and bathroom.we just close and they are not charging for sewer and water hookup. What a surprise when they want to save every penny.