Category Archives: Downtown

Apartments, Arts District, Downtown, restaurants

KC Jazz redesigns, eyes 2010 for opening

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KC Jazz restaurant has its sights set on 2010 for an opening.

Developer Casey Granieri said in an email last month that the project is going out to bid after a redesign to lower the cost. Any changes will be in materials and roof modification, he said, and if everything gets done in a timely manner it will open next year.

During last month’s Redevelopment Agency meeting, Redevelopment Director and City Administrator Peter Pelissier mentioned that a developer with experience in Newark’s Ironbound section was brought in to help with the changes while there also were some financing details to iron out. The former Kelly’s Pub building, at the corner of Seminary Avenue and Irving Street, gained Planning Board approval in July 2007.

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It looks like there’s a comfortable lead for Friday to be the day for a Rahway Rising happy hour. If no one has any objections, why don’t we call it 6 p.m. at The Waiting Room this Friday (Nov. 13). See you there!

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Apartments, Downtown

33 units occupied at Park Square

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Three years to the month after breaking ground, Park Square has 33 units occupied.

Continue reading 33 units occupied at Park Square →

Downtown, Parking

Surface lot coming to Lot B area

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That mound of dirt near Lot B on Main Street could be on its way out in the coming weeks. During this month’s Redevelopment Agency meeting, City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier was hopeful that the dirt and sales trailer at The Westbury site on Main Street could start being moved within the month.

Dornoch, which had planned to construct a multideck parking facility with condos, will lease the site to the Parking Authority for surface parking until a deck is constructed. Pelissier said the Parking Authority will work with the city and Union County to create the surface lot, first leveling out the site and laying gravel until it’s resurfaced in the spring. He expects another 100 spaces could be added.

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Worthwhile piece in New Jersey Monthly about hyperlocal Web sites and the evolution of local, online news. Good thing we got in on the ground floor in Rahway — second anniversary (what!?!) just about a week away.

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Apartments, Downtown, Parking

City explores privately-built parking deck

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City officials are planning to meet with developers about possibly constructing a privately-built parking deck.

Continue reading City explores privately-built parking deck →

Downtown, Rahway

City looks into East Cherry Street building

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City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said he has asked the city engineer and city construction official to investigate whether the burned out building on East Cherry Street is structurally sound or should be razed.

The barricades that went up in front of the building within the last month were placed there by the Department of Public Works as a precaution, according to Construction Official Richard Watkins. He said the front wall, which is wood frame construction, is no longer held in place by a floor system, so if one leans on the wall, a slight gap opens between the sidewalk and face of the wall.

The eyesore at 65 E. Cherry St. was acquired by Dornoch for $65,000 from the Parking Authority. A fire occurred in summer 2005 when it was home to a wig and beauty supply store.

Prior to the collapse of the real estate market, circa November 2007, Dornoch had plans to develop the property, adding a third floor with residential units on the second and third floors and ground-floor retail.

The grassy lot next door, adjacent to the Rahway Grill, at one point was considered for a possible walkway/promenade access to the Lewis Street parking deck.

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Apartments, Carriage City Plaza, Condos, Downtown

101 units accounted for at Sky View

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More than 100 units are either rented (43) or sold (58) in Sky View at Carriage City Plaza, as of the end of last month. That would account for 101 of the 222 units in the 16-story complex. (Remember when half were under contract?)

City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier told Redevelopment Agency commissioners during their meeting Wednesday night that another unit has closed and two more are under contract and may close soon. Pelissier said he was told by Carlos Silva of Carriage City Properties to expect a letter shortly regarding payment to the agency for the latest unit closing. It would be the first unit to close since early this year, with the most recent appearing in property transactions in April.

The agency’s settlement agreement with Carriage City Properties, however, remains unsigned. Pelissier told commissioners he would have more information at next month’s meeting and likely would require an executive session meeting to discuss “sensitive issues” and determine a course of action.

Carriage City began marketing rentals almost a year ago ($1,250 for a one-bedroom at the time, which has since increased to $1,350), in violation of their redevelopment agreement, which prompted discussions with the agency and ultimately a settlement.

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Arts District, Bars, Commercial, Downtown, restaurants, Retail

Work moves to exterior at Station Bar & Grill

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Work on the future site of Station Bar & Grill on Irving Street appears to have made its way to the front exterior of the building last week.

Some interior work looks like it was going on for a few weeks. The project was approved by the Planning Board in June, details of which can be found in the earlier post.

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For a look at what some nearby towns have in mind as far as redevelopment, here’s a piece from nj.com about Fanwood’s efforts to make its downtown more like Cranford or Westfield.

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Commercial, Downtown, office space

Woodruff Building on the block

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One of my favorite buildings in Rahway, The Woodruff Building on the corner of Irving and Lewis streets, went on the block this month with an asking price of $799,000. Sure, it could use some sprucing up, but I like buildings with a name etched in the cornerstone or along the top floor; it adds a bit of character and some history. (When I get a chance, I’ll track down some info on this Woodruff fellow.)

The two-story structure at 1439 Irving St./62 Lewis St. consists of about 9,500 square feet, with offices on the second floor and the Rahway Dance Theatre and retail space occupying the ground floor. Built in 1920, the property is assessed at about $300,000, paying property taxes of roughly $15,200.

Earlier this decade, the building was eyed as the new location for The Waiting Room. Owner Chris Wenson said he had a deal to buy it in 2000 for $450,000 from Leung Chen but couldn’t until the Redevelopment Agency bought the old Waiting Room, which relocated to make way for the parking deck and hotel. By the time the city came up with the money to buy The Waiting Room three years later, he said Chen decided not to sell. “It would have made a nice restaurant but it would not have been as big as what we have now,” said Wenson, who opened at his East Cherry Street location in 2006. The Waiting Room closed at Lewis and Main streets in 2004.

I recall some opposition at the time to relocating the existing Rahway Dance Theatre, which still is a tenant along with two second-floor office tenants. Chen sold the property for $800,000 two years ago to the current owner, an entity called 1439 Irving St., LLC which lists a Bryant Street address, according to property records.

Wenson said his father owned The Woodruff Building when he was a child and his dad and uncle had their offices there, recalling a time capsule buried in one of the walls during the ’70s.

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