Redevelopment Needs Status Check
The conditional designation of AST Development Corp. of Lavallette as developer for the Marino’s tract has expired, Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson confirmed last week.
That probably means the conditional designation of Capodagli Property Company as developer of the East Third/Richmond tract has also expired.
The former Marino’s car dealership was supposed to become the site for a new supermarket, but there has been little public mention of what is going on there. The East Third/Richmond proposal was supposed to start with the former Cozzoli machinery parcel and expand to five buildings with 352 condos and 700 ground floor parking spaces. Again, no news.
Meanwhile, the only proposal that has reached the stage of a formal redevelopment agreement seems to have a few mushy spots.
The Landmark Developers proposal for the North Avenue Historic District includes a new entertainment plaza and 415 residential units, while retaining the ornate facades of the district’s 1880s buildings. But now the city wants to add parts of two other nearby blocks, proposing to replace a parking lot vital to merchants with a 500-car parking deck.
The agreement says Landmark can spin off parts to other developers and can seek “payment in lieu of taxes” plans, even though the city has adopted a policy of not giving out any more PILOTs, since receipts from such agreements at other downtown developments were less than expected. The situation is complex, even before anything concrete has taken place.
It was a year ago in August that the city turned over redevelopment functions to the Union County Improvement Authority, with the provision that costs for preliminary items such as “in need” studies and redevelopment plans would be paid by the developers, not by the city. If projects are stalled or faltering, who picks up the tab? Let’s hope there is some pay-as-you-go clause to recoup costs from conditionally-designated developers before the city gets stuck owing the UCIA.
A public accounting of where things stand on all of the redevelopment sites is now in order.
--Bernice Paglia
That probably means the conditional designation of Capodagli Property Company as developer of the East Third/Richmond tract has also expired.
The former Marino’s car dealership was supposed to become the site for a new supermarket, but there has been little public mention of what is going on there. The East Third/Richmond proposal was supposed to start with the former Cozzoli machinery parcel and expand to five buildings with 352 condos and 700 ground floor parking spaces. Again, no news.
Meanwhile, the only proposal that has reached the stage of a formal redevelopment agreement seems to have a few mushy spots.
The Landmark Developers proposal for the North Avenue Historic District includes a new entertainment plaza and 415 residential units, while retaining the ornate facades of the district’s 1880s buildings. But now the city wants to add parts of two other nearby blocks, proposing to replace a parking lot vital to merchants with a 500-car parking deck.
The agreement says Landmark can spin off parts to other developers and can seek “payment in lieu of taxes” plans, even though the city has adopted a policy of not giving out any more PILOTs, since receipts from such agreements at other downtown developments were less than expected. The situation is complex, even before anything concrete has taken place.
It was a year ago in August that the city turned over redevelopment functions to the Union County Improvement Authority, with the provision that costs for preliminary items such as “in need” studies and redevelopment plans would be paid by the developers, not by the city. If projects are stalled or faltering, who picks up the tab? Let’s hope there is some pay-as-you-go clause to recoup costs from conditionally-designated developers before the city gets stuck owing the UCIA.
A public accounting of where things stand on all of the redevelopment sites is now in order.
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 7:47 AM
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