The second phase of Meridia Brownstones would significantly boost the number of parking spaces originally approved for the entire project a decade ago.
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Representatives for Capodgali Property Company came before the Redevelopment Agency during its Jan. 24 meeting to present a modified proposal for the second phase of Meridia Brownstones, built on the site of the former Wheatena and Quinn & Boden sites on Elizabeth Avenue.
After about 30 minutes of presentation and some questions, the Redevelopment Agency granted the developer an extension of the conditional designation for Phase 2 and recommended that City Council adopt ordinances to change the redevelopment plan as proposed.
The second phase would include Block 228, Lot 1.01, listed as 1999 Elizabeth Ave. on property records, and Block 226 Lot 1, the corner of Elizabeth and West Scott avenues, both technically owned by Meridia Rahway 2000 Urban Renewal, LLC.
Phase 2 includes 200 units, 485 parking spaces and 2,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, which was conceived in consultation with the mayor and redevelopment director, said attorney Steve Mlenak of Iselin-based Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis.
Phase 1 included 298 units along with 230 parking spaces, which proved to be inadequate after residents began parking on neighborhood streets. In response, the city created resident-only street parking permits on neighboring streets and the Capodagli provided more parking in adjacent lots. Originally, not every tenant was assigned a parking space, Mlenak said, but now they are.
It’s been almost 10 years since the full project received Planning Board approval for 487 units across five buildings and 624 parking spaces, a concept plan that dates back several years earlier. A revised timeline of milestones for the Brownstones, established in 2020, had pegged completion of Phase 2 by the end of 2022.
The revised Phase 2 proposal presented last month would bring the totals to 498 units and 705 parking spaces – similar in total units but 81 more than the original 624 parking spaces approved a decade ago (about 13 percent).
The total 498 units across both phases would require 698 parking spaces under a ratio of 1.4 spaces per unit, along with 2,000 square feet of commercial space, which requires 10 spaces, for a total requirement of 708 spaces. The proposal’s 715 parking spaces exceeds that by seven spaces but that does not include the overflow lot and 13 off-site spaces in front of the building.
As acknowledged by the developer and by the city, Phase 1 did not provide have enough parking, Executive Director Robert Landolfi said. Prior to designing and submitting Phase 2, there was an interim solution to that Phase 1 problem, including use of the adjacent parking lot. The developer “was very accommodating and worked with us to come up with an interim solution that frankly delayed this,” he said.
Most of that temporary lot at West Scott and Elizabeth, which consists of about 220 spaces, is vacant, Mlenak said, and so the developer is proposing that 200 spaces remain to be used for Phase 1. An overflow lot of 79 parking spaces would remain available for at least two years after development, if necessary, he said.
Building Specifics
A five-story building with two levels of parking would be topped by three levels of residential homes. The ground-floor plan includes 253 parking spaces: 240 in the garage and another 13 off-site in front of the building, according to John Burgdorfer of Mountainside-based Netta Architects.
The building would have a U-shape configuration on the ground floor, with the remaining floors featuring two wings that run parallel with Elizabeth Avenue. A single courtyard in a U-type shape would feature amenity space. There would be commercial space of about 2,000 square feet.
The second floor of the wing fronting Elizabeth Avenue would feature 29 units, 8 of which would have walkup access from the street, with an architectural feature to tie the second floor units to the streetscape. The rest of the second floor consists of about 208 spaces on the second floor.
Floors three through five would have 57 units each: 32 one-bedrooms and 25 two-bedrooms, for a total 200 units. In all, 92 units would be two-bedrooms.
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