City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing before formal approval of the 2015 municipal budget during its regular meeting on Monday night, and here are a few more details from the 44-page document.
Tag Archives: Rahway Plaza Apartments
Meridia Water’s Edge coming along
Having reached its apex earlier this spring, construction at the five-story Meridia Water’s Edge continues, shaping the 108-unit project adjacent to the Center Circle and Rahway Public Library.
The building will include 52 two-bedroom units, 38 one-bedrooms with an office and 18 one-bedroom units. Units will range from 672 square feet to 850 square feet, with rents of $1,400 to $1,550. The ground floor will include 87 parking spaces, with another 22 spaces to be created within the adjacent library lot.
Capodagli Property Co., now based in West New York, acquired the three-quarter acre site from the Redevelopment Agency for $1 million in January 2012 but was credited for the expense of removing soil from the property (which was estimated to cost about $160,000. The City Council approved a 10-year Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) financial agreement in March 2012. The agreement will begin with a $216,000 payment in the first year and rise in future years based on gross revenue, with an tax break estimated at $170,000 annually.
Meridia Water’s Edge reaches apex
The five-story Meridia Water’s Edge appears to have reached its highest point.
The 108-unit project between the library and Rahway Plaza Apartments broke ground last spring and will include 52 two-bedrooms, 38 one-bedrooms with an office, and 18 one-bedrooms. The Planning Board approved an application that included just 87 parking spaces, with the developer, Capodagli Property Company, to secure another 21 parking spaces from the Rahway River Condominium Association (which owns the building in which the library is located, along with the office space on the upper floors).
Construction manager Jim Wendell told the Redevelopment Agency at its meeting in January that the building likely would top out by sometime in March.
Almost $1 million in PILOTs in 2012 budget
The $49-million municipal budget anticipates almost $1 million of revenue from various PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) agreements, including the first from one of the Park Square properties.
The total $961,000 in PILOT revenue is up from the $783,000 in the 2011 budget and breaks down as follows:
* Lower Essex St – Denholz Management (Rahway Plaza Apartments) – $366,000
* Landmark – $150,000
* Parking Authority (River Place) — $170,000
* Rosegate — $25,000
* Senior citizen housing — $250,000
Landmark, which broke ground on the Irving Street side of Park Square (2 Park Square) in 2006, appealed its assessment in Tax Court, getting it reduced from $6.05 million to $4.077 million.
The Main Street side (1 Park Square) is assessed at $8.965 million.
The PILOT agreement had the developer paying taxes on the assessed value of the parcels as they previously existed. Landmark will begin paying 20 percent of its assessment this year, which will rise 20 percent each year until it reaches 100 percent (which would be 2016).
River Place was constructed on property owned by the Parking Authority, which receives an annual payment from the development’s owner and splits it roughly in half with the city.
The city budget also anticipates $660,000 in revenue from red light camera fines. About $1 million was realized in the Transitional Year budget, which covered the six months of July-December 2011.
The amount to be raised by taxes in the budget is $33.455 million. The proposed municipal tax rate for 2012 is 2.287 (per $100 of assessed value), so the average assessed home ($133,000) would see municipal taxes of $3,042, compared with $3,046 estimated last year. (Remember, municipal taxes make up only a portion of your overall property tax bill; the others being schools and county). Presented to City Council by the administration in February, the municipal budget will be up for a public hearing and vote at the March 12 meeting.
Agency closes on sale for Water’s Edge parcel
The Redevelopment Agency last month closed on the $1-million sale of a three-quarter-acre parcel where a 108-unit rental complex will begin construction this spring. Pompton Plains-based Capodagli Property Company will undertake the project under the name Meridia Water’s Edge Urban Renewal, LLC.
Continue reading Agency closes on sale for Water’s Edge parcel
Water’s Edge gains Planning Board approval
The Planning Board unanimously approved a major site plan and parking exceptions for Meridia Water’s Edge after about two hours of testimony Tuesday night.
Council moves forward on Water’s Edge project
The City Council last night introduced an ordinance (O-26-11) to amend the Lower Main Street Urban Renewal Plan for the Meridia Water’s Edge project.
The Planning Board is expected to take up the matter later this month (Aug. 30) and provide a recommendation to the City Council before the governing body holds a public hearing and final vote on the ordinance next month (Sept. 12). The Planning Board then would consider a site plan, as early as its September meeting (Sept. 27).
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| Can you find the rainbow? |
Capodagli Property Company of Pompton Plains has proposed 108 units on the 0.75-acre property (Block 305, Lot 5.04) adjacent to Rahway Public Library, Center Circle sports complex and Rahway Plaza Apartments. Capodagli last week presented the Redevelopment Agency with a revised project 108 units compared with the 116 units presented in the spring. The five-story, 108-unit proposal includes 52 two-bedroom units and 56 one-bedrooms compared with a 20/96 split in the earlier version. Since the plan currently only includes 90 parking spaces, some arrangement would be necessary for the project to use upward of 18 spaces in adjacent parking lots.
About six years ago, a day care center was proposed in the area (.pdf) at Block 305/Lot 5.03 (.pdf). The majority of the City Hall Plaza complex and adjacent lots at one time was planned as the Town Center project, a massive mix of residential, retail and parking (circa 2007).
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The latest from NJ Transit on the center stair repairs at the Train Station: Closed through September 2011. It really doesn’t even look like much work has been done of late, so I think I can speak for a majority of you when I say: WTF?!?!
The advisory comes on the the heels of another one earlier this week that repairs to the elevator on the westbound side “are scheduled to continue through September.”