More than three years after the project initially was presented to City Council, a 51-unit senior housing development on the St. Mary’s Church complex is scheduled to come before the Zoning Board of Adjustment Monday night.
Category Archives: Downtown
Dornoch updates agency on retail properties
As promised, the remainder of the briefing the Redevelopment Agency received last week from Glen Fishman, managing partner of Dornoch Holdings.
Fishman was invited to provide an update on the firm’s activities and while the “bad news” portion consisted of an update on the lack of activity at The Savoy, the “good news” portion, as it was described, concerned Dornoch filling its rental properties along Main Street.
Temporary surfacing parking eventually will take over the rest of Lot B on Main Street, adding about 100 spaces in a deal with the Parking Authority and Redevelopment Agency. How temporary the parking is likely will depend on when the economy rebounds. The space originally was planned for 152 residential units with retail-residential mix and parking component known as The Westbury.
Dornoch has been able to rent all but two of its buildings along Main Street, Fishman said
. Residential apartments above its properties at 1513 Main St. and 1469 Main St., are rented while they’ve had some interest in the retail components. A New York tenant abandoned 1469 Main St., Fishman said, but a clothing store (headed up by his stepmother) has moved into 1513 Main St. (photo above) while 1501 Main St. has two potential tenants, including a Westfield attorney who may come before the agency and/or Planning Board with changes to the interior, and another tenant who may be interested in the entire building. He’s hopeful to have the spaces filled by February or March.
“People continue to have faith in the town and are willing to spend,” Fishman told commissioners.
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Here’s an idea that might be worth copying. Summit’s merchant association, Summit Downtown, Inc., issues an annual report of sorts, the going vacancy rate and detailing the past year of openings and closings. While Summit may be vastly different in terms of demographics, like Rahway, it also has a Special Improvement District (SID) tax.
Perhaps an effort such as this may be undertaken by the reorganizing Rahway Center Partnership, which is revamping its website, the fledgling Chamber of Commerce, or be included in the mayor’s pledge to market the city.
By the way, Summit reported a vacancy rate of 4.8 percent, 10 vacancies, down from 7.6 percent, 16 vacancies, with 21 new stories and seven expansions/relocations, and five new openings anticipated early this year.
Breakdown of SID taxes
Catching up on some older items during this slow week, the City Council last month approved a 2010 budget of about $130,000 for the Special Improvement District (SID).
Little Portugal ‘coming soon’ to former Nile space
A restaurant called Little Portugal is “coming soon” to the former home of The Back Porch and The Original Nile.
Continue reading Little Portugal ‘coming soon’ to former Nile space
Continue reading Little Portugal ‘coming soon’ to former Nile space
Aromalicious by Christmas
A Portuguese bakery and cafe is coming to East Cherry Street within the next week. Aromalicious will be open by Christmas, according to the signs in the windows of 85 E. Cherry St. Renovations had been ongoing at the site since the summer.
Readers of the blog often have expressed a desire for a local bakery downtown. The results of the Rahway Survey from several years ago indicated support for a bakery, among other things, and there was quite a discussion about a bakery after Drug Fair vacated their spac
e on St. Georges Avenue.
International Pastry, now in Clark, was located along East Cherry Street about a decade ago, and not far from this location, American Jubilee, a dessert shop/bakery operated at 88 E. Cherry (most recently an art gallery) until about five years ago.
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Kind of a scary story from The New York Times on Friday (“A ‘Shadow Inventory’ Dampens Winter Market”): A “shadow inventory” of 41 months worth of homes to sell that aren’t even on the market yet because they’re in the foreclosure process. “More northerly, urban parts of the state are in less dire straits.”
Former El Bodegon reopens tonight as Patria
The former El Bodegon reopens tonight as the Patria Restaurant & Mixology Lounge, 169 W. Main St., hosts its grand opening at 8 p.m. after almost 10 months of renovations. It’s the second Rahway restaurant to reopen this month.
Continue reading Former El Bodegon reopens tonight as Patria
Short sales at Carriage City Plaza
With foreclosure looming for Carriage City Plaza, one two short sales in the building went on the market two weeks ago within the past month. A check of Realtor.com shows at least four units in the 16-story building on the market by owners.
About 62 of the 222 units were sold since the building opened in 2008. Another 72 leased were through the developer — Carriage City Properties (CCP)/Silcon, Inc. — leaving 88 units unsold or not leased. All 160 units owned by CCP — not the 62 owned by individuals — are expected to go into foreclosure, along with the hotel and retail space on the first three floors.
Among the first 30 or so units that sold in the building, Unit 512 went for $231,250 in September 2008 and at one point was listed for rent at $1,700 per month. The one-bed/one-bath, which appears to have some upgrades, is now on the market for $139,900.Unit 1002, a two-bed/two-bath, closed for $395,250 in December 2008 – two years ago tomorrow, to be precise. It listed on Realtor.com for $199,900 earlier this week and today is $99,000. Base units, sans upgrades, at Carriage City Plaza were starting at about $220,000 during the pre-construction phase in 2006.
Meanwhile, New York City-based Spandrel Property Services was named this week to manage the remaining unsold units being marketed as rentals in Skyview at Carriage City Plaza.
What exactly is a short sale? Wikipedia explains here: “When sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the loan, often when a borrower cannot pay the loan on the property but the lender decides selling at a moderate loss is better than pressing the borrower.”Note: This original post was updated Dec. 10 to reflect the 1002 short sale.
Jeweler to take last Park Square retail spot
Kennedy Jewelers will fill the final retail space at Park Square, moving four blocks from its current location.
Mayor James Kennedy said a 10-year lease is up on his East Milton Avenue and Fulton Street location and the new space, at the corner of Elm Avenue and Irving Street, is smaller, thus more affordable. “I like the street parking and cozier feeling,” he said in an email, describing it as “more ’boutique-ish.'”
Kennedy, who ends his fifth term as mayor at the end of this year, said it will be his fifth location in 32 years.
The other two retail tenants at Park Square are expected to be Davis Financial, a Linden-based CPA firm, and Deisel Training Center, a strength training and tae kwon do facility. The target for occupancy is December while Kennedy Jewelers could be January of February, according to Matt Dobrowlowski of Iozzi-Williams Village Green ERA, the exclusive listing agent. All three of the tenants have signed either four- or five-year leases in the range of $22 to $23 per square feet annually.
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Here’s a cool photo gallery in Crain’s New York, “Musty streets now hot strips,” featuring half a dozen “formerly forgotten streets becoming urban destinations, boasting a growing crop of trendy eateries and boutiques.” How’d they do it? “It requires daring entrepreneurs seizing the opportunities of cheap rents and an underserved market, as well as landlords hungry enough to take chances on unproven operators.”