The former convent at St. Mary’s Church on Esterbrook Avenue was razed last week, more than two years after a plan for senior housing was proposed for the site.
Category Archives: Downtown
KC Jazz not likely in 2010
Not that it’s any surprise but don’t expect KC Jazz Restaurant to open during 2010.
Redevelopment Agency Commissioner Courtney Clarke inquired about the status of the project during the March 24 Redevelopment Agency meeting.
City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said the project at the corner of Irving Street and Seminary Avenue is not likely to be realized this year. Developer Casey Granieri is expected to go out to bid again and resubmit quotes to the bank, which had advised him to reduce the costs of the project by $500,000, Pelissier said.
Station Place to be scaled down
Developers of the Station Place project on Campbell Street likely will seek approval to reduce the development from 116 residential rentals to 85 units.
Casa Borinquen grand opening Friday
Specializing in Puerto Rican fare, the restaurant will replace Taste of Portugal, which closed in 2009 after more than two years at the East Cherry Street location. At one time the space housed the popular Eat To The Beat Cafe.
Casa Borinquen is family owned and operated by Rahway residents. I met the co-owners while I was strolling downtown on Sunday and they were putting some finishing touches on the place.
The building is among several East Cherry Street properties owned by Dornoch.
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The grand opening of Chess Mates, originally scheduled for March 1, was postponed. No new grand opening date has been set, but construction has been delayed due in part to the recent inclement weather.
The chess cafe will occupy the second retail space in Park Square on Irving Street, next to Eyes On You.
Council approves Hamilton Street arts projects
With at least one proponent invoking the mythical tale of Prometheus, more than a dozen speakers, including labor union representatives, artists and school officials, last night spoke in favor of borrowing $8.5 million for construction of the Hamilton Street arts projects. Two residents questioned the cost and benefit to city taxpayers.
The City Council last night unanimously approved an $8.5-million bond ordinance to build a 1,100-seat amphitheater (above) at the former Hamilton Laundry site and to renovate the Bell Building (below) to house a black box theater. One speaker after the next noted that the amphitheater project is part of the city’s continuing investment in the Arts District and the overall vision for the arts to drive redevelopment, remaking the city as a destination. (Here’s The Star-Ledger‘s take on last night’s meeting.)
The council last night also unanimously approved ordinances to shift management of the Special Improvement District funds to the Rahway Arts District and to negotiate the purchase of 52 E. Cher
ry St. from the Rahway Center Partnership.
Construction of the amphitheater is still on schedule to begin this fall, City Engineer James Housten told the Redevelopment Agency last week. Remediation of the soil can begin now that a case manager has been assigned by the state for the city’s Brownfields sites. Most all of the soil has been contaminated with fluids used in dry cleaning, he said, adding that it can either be trucked away or mixed with chemicals on site to remediate.
Irving St. restaurant slowed by sewer fee dispute
City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier told commissioners Wednesday night he was told by partners in the Station Bar & Grill that they could not do the project if they had to pay the city’s total calculation. The city doesn’t want to stop the project, he added, but is willing to work within the confines of the ordinance.
The calculation for the connection fee range, set by city ordinance, is based on a property’s historic data and previous occupants. The amount the developers want to pay, according to Pelissier, is about a quarter of the calculation by the city’s construction official. The developers, he added, have shared their calculation with the city and what they think they should be charged.
The Planning Board approved a minor site plan for the 6,900-square-foot project last June.
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In case you somehow haven’t yet heard about “Rahway’s snow babe,” it first appeared Saturday via CNN’s iReport, before getting picked up in Wednesday’s Star-Ledger, and then on and on.
Recent retail roundup
Arts District board to take over SID management
The City Council will vote next month to shift management of the downtown Special Improvement District (SID) to the Rahway Arts District, a precursor to a revamped Rahway Center Partnership. The ordinance, introduced at the council’s Feb. 8 regular meeting, also would expand the SID to include the Arts District, namely the Hamilton Street arts projects.
The arts district would receive and oversee the funds collected through the SID’s special assessment. The SID, created by the city in 1993, generates about $140,000 annually from 165 commercial properties in the
downtown area. Commercial property owners today pay roughly an additional 7 percent to the SID, beyond regular property taxes, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier. For example, a commercial property owner paying about $10,000 annually in property taxes would pay another $700 to the SID.
SIDs were created in New Jersey in the mid-1980s as financing tools by local businesses to provide services as part of a revitalization downtown plan. Commercial property owners “organize and assess themselves in order to pay for the services that are needed.” Cities have used it for things like security, sanitation, graffiti removal, facade/streetscape improvements, marketing and special events.
The future of the Partnership itself is up in the air, with an almost certain transformation in the coming months. Among the options that will be examined, according to Pelissier, is consolidating the Partnership with the Parking Authority. The city will compare the operational costs of both entities and see what’s necessary. The Partnership, he added, could still host its major fundraisers and special events, such as Hot Rods and Harleys, The Taste and a wine tasting event.
SID money would provide funding for programming at the proposed Hamilton Street amphithe
ater and black box theater, and in general, could be used to “develop activities and programs to encourage the long-term success of the arts community in the Rahway Arts District,” according to the ordinance. The arts district board is made up of downtown stakeholders, including city officials, artists, restaurant owners and a developer, Pelissier said.
The ordinance will come up for a public hearing and final adoption at the March 8 City Council meeting.
*** FULL DISCLOSURE *** I was appointed last month to a three-year term as an “honorary member” of the Rahway Arts District Board of Trustees. Honorary members do not vote and do not have the same obligations as other board members; all are unpaid. I expect to attend meetings whenever possible as a means to inform the community, as my blog has always aimed to do.