It looks like some long-awaited improvements got under way this month at the Kings Inn Motel that ultimately will turn it into a Super 8.
It’s been almost a year since the Redevelopment Agency reassigned the redevelopment agreement on the site along Route 1&9. The plan at that time was to turn the building into a Motel 6 but is now back to a Super 8.
Director of Community Development Cynthia Solomon confirmed that the permits have all been approved but no word on a timeline for completion.
A Howard Johnson had been planned to replace the Kings Inn two years ago before that plan fell through and at one point there was a proposal for an addition as a Super 8. (Thanks to all the eagle-eyed readers who tipped me off to the activity at the Kings Inn site.)
A story in NJ Biz last month detailed how a Newark nonprofit uses GPS-based bar code system to allow staff, and the public, to send alerts on damaged downtown improvements. It also can “help users locate parking garages, stores, restaurants and parks in the area.”
It’s been awhile since we had a poll and since Christmas is almost here, this one seemed timely and appropriate:
What’s your favorite Chinese restaurant/eatery?
Dragon Palace
Hunan Kitchen
Ming Feng
New Fon Garden
New Great Wall
Panda China
No. 1 Chinese Kitchen
For the sake of the poll, Chinese is meant to encompass all Asian cuisine (Japanese, Korean, etc.). Hope that’s OK with everybody. Let me know if there’s any place that I’ve missed that you think should be included the poll.
Maybe next month we’ll come back with the pizza poll which has been popular. And I’m always open to suggestions for future polls.
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.
Continue reading Former El Bodegon reopens tonight as Patria
A public hearing and final approval of an ordinance that would restrict parking along Pierpont Street will be held during the City Council’s regular meeting on Monday.
City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said complaints were received about commuters parking along much Pierpont Street, making it difficult for res
idents to find parking for their own cars and visitors. Residents were surveyed and only one negative response was received, according to city officials. Residents would get a Parking Authority sticker to place on their cars.
Wenson-Maier lives on nearby Bryant Street where parking also was restricted in recent years. “It took some getting used to but it was heavily overparked and it’s better for a majority of the block. It’s a little bit of a hassle but it’s provided some more parking,” she said.
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.
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.
Continue reading A cautionary tale for arts-based redevelopment?