All posts by rahwayrising@gmail.com

library

Agency to sell parcel for $1 million

3 Comments

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.

_uacct = “UA-2976232-1”;
urchinTracker();

Apartments, Downtown

The Savoy steel finally coming down?

1 Comment

In what might be the first bit of good news about The Savoy property in years, the bank behind the project has orders to level the site — steel and all.

Continue reading The Savoy steel finally coming down? →

Arts District, Parking, Rahway

Bids rejected for interim parking at theater site

Leave a comment

The Redevelopment Agency rejected two bids for construction of interim parking at the site of the proposed Hamilton Street amphitheater. A new bid could be awarded by next month.

The two bidders — Berto Construction and Gingerelli Bros. — were about $500,000 apart, one reason why they were rejected, according to City Engineer James Housten, though seven contractors purchased bid packets. (Gingerelli Bros. earlier this year was awarded the $5.825-million bid for the Hamilton Stage project at the Bell Building.)

When the Redevelopment Agency decided several months ago to put the amphitheater on hold and instead build an interim parking lot at the Hamilton Street site, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determined that a different permit would be required, Housten said. Meetings with state officials, however, have led to a more favorable recommendation, he said, with the process and cost to a less than if the agency had followed the DEP’s original edict and see another permit.

Part of the bid included removing remediated soil, which Housten said will be tested and determined exactly what it contains and how much there is. That process might provide for less expensive bids when the project goes out to bid next week. He hopes to have a resolution to award a new contract at the agency’s August meeting.

Early this year, the Redevelopment Agency decided to delay building the amphitheater and instead construct an interim parking lot to accommodate the Hamilton Stage. Commissioners also held off on acquiring three remaining homes on Hamilton Street that were slated to eventually become parking areas.

_uacct = “UA-2976232-1”;
urchinTracker();

office space

Dornoch building goes on the market

Leave a comment

One of Dornoch’s properties is on the block. The three-story building at 1501 Main St. is listed with an asking price of $599,000, at LoopNet.com. That works out to $120 per square foot for the 5,000-square-foot space, and would be a 16-percent premium over the $515,000 that Dornoch paid for the property in February 2007, according to property records.

The property is assessed at $229,700 and pays roughly $12,500 in property taxes, according to PropertyShark.com.

This past spring, Hillside-based Dornoch was declared in default of its redevelopment agreement on The Savoy and also owns the building that was recently demolished on East Cherry Street, along with several other downtown parcels.

_uacct = “UA-2976232-1”;
urchinTracker();

tax appeals, taxes

Top 10 property taxpayers

1 Comment

The top 10 taxpayers in Rahway make up about a fifth of the city’s total assessed value. As part of an $11.65-million bond sale in the spring, the city put together a slew of documents on the city’s debt and tax assessments for ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

Details of the bond sale, as they relate to redevelopment, will be included in an upcoming post. For now, here are the top 10 property taxpayers in the city (here it is an Excel file, maybe easier to read), followed by the total assessed value of their property (or properties):

Merck & Co., Inc. — $249,669,700
Carriage City Properties, LLC — $27,128,400
Park Terrace at Rahway, LLC — $6,684,500
Giacobbe Investments Corp. — $5,762,400
Alard Realty Enterprises — $5,477,900
Renaissance at Rahway, LLC — $5,362,800
Woodbridge Plaza, LLC — $4,329,500
Rahway Industrial Site — $4,296,900
Ninette Group — $3,659,600
New Jersey Bell — $3,576,279
TOTAL — $315,947,979

In some cases, like Merck and Giacobbe Investments Corp., the total figure includes multiple parcels, while for others, it’s just one property, like Renaissance, Park Terrace and Woodbridge Plaza.

“The city’s tax base has experienced, what we consider, limited, but stable, growth; it increased by just 2.1 percent since fiscal 2007 to $1.55 billion in fiscal 2010,” according to the S&P report. It considered the city’s per-capita market value of $134,775 “extremely strong.” Officials expect a tax base reduction for the subsequent year, according to the report. While the tax base is diverse with the 10 leading taxpayers accounting for 21.2 percent of assessed valuation (AV), Merck alone accounted for 17 percent of AV in fiscal 2010. Total assessed valuation is $1,486,291,000 in 2011, down 3.8 percent from $1,545,974,600 in 2010, according to the report.

Primarily due to a tax appeal by Merck (the first in more than 20 years) and to a lesser extent the economic downturn, the tax base will likely decline by 4 percent to $1.49 billion in fiscal 2011, according to the report. The city has settled the tax appeal and will repay about $1.6 million over the next three years.

There are a few more interesting (at least to me) statistics within the documents, as well as details of the bond sale, that I’ll post soon.

***

ABC 7 News‘ Neighborhood Eats paid a visit to Rahway recently, checking out Patria Restaurant and Mixology Lounge on West Main Street. A 2:41 report on the new eatery aired Friday, featuring a tilapia dish.

_uacct = “UA-2976232-1”;
urchinTracker();

Crime, Downtown

Cops begin moving into police center

1 Comment

The Police Department is expected to begin moving into the new police assistance center on East Cherry Street this week. Police Chief John Rodger said the Police Auxiliary, which had typically used the basement of City Hall, already has started using the facility.

Continue reading Cops begin moving into police center →

City Council

East Cherry Street demolition tab = $75,000

2 Comments
The City Council tonight approved an emergency contract for the demolition of 65 E. Cherry St., which occurred last month. Frank Lurch Demolition Co. of Asbury Park was awarded the $75,000 contract.

Continue reading East Cherry Street demolition tab = $75,000 →