Parking to be added at Meridia Brownstones

The developer of a massive Elizabeth Avenue project is expected to include more parking when it seeks approvals for the second phase of the project later this year.

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File photo – June 2020

Capodagli Property Company agreed to construct temporary parking on the Phase 1 site, according to Robert Landolfi, executive director of the Redevelopment Agency. In addition, the Linden-based developer agreed to “some type of parking structure which would provide parking for both Phase 1 and 2,” when they submit approvals for Phase 2, he said, adding that it probably will be at a higher standard than in the redevelopment plan.

In October, City Council instituted residential permit parking along several side streets near Meridia Brownstones because of an influx of parking in the neighborhood. New parking regulations included the entire length and both sides of Price Street and Jackson Avenue, along with both sides of Linden Avenue between Jackson Avenue and West Scott Avenue.

File photo – Feb 2021

“It became obvious that Phase 1 had inadequate parking for the number of vehicles they had there so the mayor asked to reach out to the developer and initiate a discussion that hopefully results in a solution to the parking issues,” Landolfi told commissioners during his executive director’s report at the Redevelopment Agency’s monthly meeting on Wednesday night.

“The good news is the situation over there is being addressed in relatively short order,” Landolfi said. The developer  is expected to come before the Planning Board in May and return to the Redevelopment Agency in the next two to three months for some type of Phase 2 application.

Both the temporary lot and the Phase 2 changes will result in new redevelopment agreements or amendments to existing agreements with the agency, according to Landolfi.

When the development received unanimous approval for preliminary and final major site plans from the Planning Board in 2014, there were 624 parking spaces proposed, surpassing the total 609 spaces required. The vast majority of spaces, 541, were included within ground-floor parking decks, with another 24 on-street spaces along Elizabeth Avenue and 59 parking spaces in a lot across the street.

Meridia Brownstones ultimately will include 487 units across four, five-story buildings on the site of the former Wheatena and Quinn & Boden sites along Elizabeth Avenue between West Grand and West Scott avenues. Phase 1, completed early this year, includes 298 units, or about 61% of the total planned.

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