New Development Proposal, More Deadlines

An East Hanover developer proposes filling in a gap on the Tepper’s block with a 12-unit condo project with three commercial units at ground level.

Clay Bonny showed a rendering of his proposed building to the City Council Monday (March 5, 2007) and said his target buyers will be young professionals, empty-nesters and divorced dads who might use a second bedroom as an office or a place for the kids on weekends. The last category showed up as a marketing niche, he explained.

A second-floor interior landscaped courtyard would give upper floor residents a view and each two-bedroom unit would have ample storage, a “full appliance package” and other features to make living comfortable.

Bonny said no price had been set for the condos, but his “gut feeling” was that the cost would be about $300,000. Parking would be behind the West Front Street building, mostly in a city-owned lot, he said.

Bonny said the proposal is his fourth solo project after years with major development firms. He has previously built rental properties in Rahway, Butler and Morristown, he said.

The presentation was just for council information, as Bonny had answered a request for proposals for the city-owned site. As in mostly all recent development discussions, parking was a concern. Bonny said accepted standards call for two parking spaces per unit, but that one of the spaces could most likely be shared by tenants at night and employees and shoppers by day. One 24-hour parking space would be dedicated for each unit.

In other redevelopment news, a 90-page agreement for development of the North Avenue tract was in the council information packet, anticipating a vote at Wednesday’s regular meeting. But the item was pulled Monday and the developer, Landmark Development Corp. of Jersey City, will be given another 60-day extension of the conditional designation first granted in August.

Landmark’s proposal is perhaps the most extensive of all among more than a dozen or so in the works. Developer Frank Cretella, renowned as a restaurant entrepreneur, proposes making the blocks by the main train station a mecca for entertainment, along with extensive residential and retail development. Besides encompassing the city’s only commercial historic district, the plan may extend north and west and may add a 500-space parking deck. Part of the plan is to retain the historic facades along North Avenue between Park and Watchung avenues, but to build up behind them to yield more than 400 residential units in the tract.

The agenda already included a 60-day extension for AST Development Corp. of Lavallette for the Marino’s tract on West Front Street. That plan includes a supermarket, but recent talks between major chains Pathmark and A&P may complicate the negotiations. AST also received 90-day conditional designation in August and along with Landmark received a 60-day extension in December.

Meanwhile, Plaintalker had noted a looming closing deadline for Dornoch Plainfield’s senior center and condo development on East Front Street. Not to worry, the closing took place in late January, Union County Improvement Authority attorney Ed Boccher said. Dornoch has already received site plan approval for the center and 63 condos on three floors above the center. The developer will finance the project and is not seeking any tax breaks from the city.

--Bernice Paglia

Condo Lot Now a Park

The West Front Street lot designated for a 12-unit condo project is now labeled as a pocket park. It has a couple of benches surrounded by shrubs and three trees. The lot was cleared by Oveter's Construction at city expense several months ago. Developer Clayton Bonny proposed the project in March 2007 and both an "in need of redevelopment" study and a redevelopment plan received city approvals. Bonny did not return a phone call Monday seeking comment on the status of his project.

Here's a view of the park from the street. To the rear is a municipal parking lot. The site is on the Tepper's block.

The sign credits Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, the City Council and the City of Plainfield for the park and thanks volunteers from Lucent for doing the work. The pocket park is across the street from the Park-Madison block, where a dispute over a temporary park held up development for several years. That park was mistakenly included in a list of Green Acre sites and litigation ensued.

--Bernice Paglia

Whither Redevelopment?

Before my trip, I went downtown to take pictures, specifically to catch up with the Heartstone proposal on West Front Street. A vacant lot was all there was to be seen so far, the city having paid for demolition of an old building on the site. Oliver Brown's company, Oveter's Construction, had equipment on the site.

Clay Bonny of Heartstone Development proposed 12 market-rate condos for the site. Click here for an earlier post on Heartstone. Bonny, like many other developers who have come to Plainfield since Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs took office, has a project in Rahway. That one, according to the blog Rahway Rising, is now shifting to rentals rather than owner occupancy, due to market conditions.

This is the bug-a-boo that land use boards and the governing body here have hoped to avoid as they grant approvals.

But while my original red redevelopment folder spawned a bunch of separate folders for developers, there hasn't been much to add to any of them lately. Dornoch received permission to lease a city-owned lot for a sales office, but when I looked a couple of weeks ago, the lot was still vacant, with no trailer office in sight. Construction is proceeding on Dornoch's 63 market-rate condos on three floors over a new senior center at 400 East Front Street.

There hasn't been much news on North Avenue, Netherwood, Richmond & Third, Marino's, Downtown Station South or other proposals. Rahway has a redevelopment agency, as Plainfield once had, so Rahway Rising can do one-stop scouting for news. Those following redevelopment here must keep an eye on the Planning and Zoning boards as well as the City Council to ferret out progress. A recent summary from Planning on the myriad proposals was not much changed from a previous one, hinting at a slowdown due to market conditions. Recently the administration announced a closer focus on a few of the dozen or more proposals, perhaps those most likely to succeed.

It would be good to have an in-depth update on those projects, especially Landmark's North Avenue proposal for blocks around the main train station. That one has been expanded and is supposed to be done in phases. The Historic Preservation Commission had concerns about the project's impact on the North Avenue Commercial Historic District, the city's original business district across from the main station. Were they resolved?

Besides all the city entities involved in redevelopment, there is the Union County Improvement Authority, to which the overall responsibility for redevelopment was entrusted in 2006. The administration holds weekly meetings with attorneys and staff on redevelopment and the City Council gets updates in closed session. Even if there is nothing major to report, it would be good to have a rundown soon for the public on how things are going.

--Bernice Paglia