Jones Lang LaSalle
Major Mixed-Use Project Takes Big Step Forward
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: March 27, 2006 08:39am
(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
DUNELLEN, NJ-Culminating a process that began four years ago, local officials have picked the Kaplan Cos. to redevelop 23 acres surrounding this Middlesex County community’s NJ Transit commuter rail station. What the Highland Park-based Kaplan has in mind for the proposed transit village, Gateway to Dunellen, as it’s been named, is a total of 400 residential condos and townhouses, 50,000 sf of retail space, underground parking for 500 cars, a clubhouse for residents and other amenities. Kaplan will also build a new borough hall within the site.
“This is the largest and most significant redevelopment in the 119-year history of this community,” says Robert J. Seader, mayor of this 7,000-resident, one-square-mile town. Dunellen essentially began as and grew up around a rail station built in the 1880s as an intermediate stop between two larger communities.
“We want to embrace our history as a small railroad town while setting our sights on the future,” says Seader, who predicts the built-out project will generate $3 million in annual tax revenue. As far as the selection process, “we picked Kaplan as the redeveloper because of its experience in redevelopment,” he says, noting New Jersey projects in Carteret, Sayreville, Helmetta, Perth Amboy, Bayonne, Hackensack and Cinnaminson.
Kaplan’s redevelopment plan shapes up as three components. Some 1.8 acres north of the railroad tracks will be the home of the new municipal complex and new retail and other commercial space. A Provident Bank branch and the local US Post Office within the site will be retained.
On the south side of the tracks, a 2.5-acre site currently used as a commuter parking lot and the town library will be turned into additional residential and retail facilities. A new police headquarters may also be part of the plan.
And a former printing plant on 19 acres to the east of the train station will be torn down to make way for more residences, retail and commercial space in a series of three- and four-story buildings. The site will also have direct access to Columbia Park, which recently underwent a $2.5-million renovation through the Middlesex County Open Space Trust Fund.
“This project will have a neo-traditional design to mesh with the homes lining the community’s neighborhood streets,” says Jason Kaplan, president of Kaplan Cos. “This community has an authentic town square located just across the street from the transit village, and our designers are molding this project to fit with the small-town character.”
Borough and Kaplan officials say they are now working on a final redevelopment agreement with a spring 2007 groundbreaking as the target. The projected cost of the project hasn’t been released.
Major Mixed-Use Project Takes Big Step Forward
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: March 27, 2006 08:39am
(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
DUNELLEN, NJ-Culminating a process that began four years ago, local officials have picked the Kaplan Cos. to redevelop 23 acres surrounding this Middlesex County community’s NJ Transit commuter rail station. What the Highland Park-based Kaplan has in mind for the proposed transit village, Gateway to Dunellen, as it’s been named, is a total of 400 residential condos and townhouses, 50,000 sf of retail space, underground parking for 500 cars, a clubhouse for residents and other amenities. Kaplan will also build a new borough hall within the site.
“This is the largest and most significant redevelopment in the 119-year history of this community,” says Robert J. Seader, mayor of this 7,000-resident, one-square-mile town. Dunellen essentially began as and grew up around a rail station built in the 1880s as an intermediate stop between two larger communities.
“We want to embrace our history as a small railroad town while setting our sights on the future,” says Seader, who predicts the built-out project will generate $3 million in annual tax revenue. As far as the selection process, “we picked Kaplan as the redeveloper because of its experience in redevelopment,” he says, noting New Jersey projects in Carteret, Sayreville, Helmetta, Perth Amboy, Bayonne, Hackensack and Cinnaminson.
Kaplan’s redevelopment plan shapes up as three components. Some 1.8 acres north of the railroad tracks will be the home of the new municipal complex and new retail and other commercial space. A Provident Bank branch and the local US Post Office within the site will be retained.
On the south side of the tracks, a 2.5-acre site currently used as a commuter parking lot and the town library will be turned into additional residential and retail facilities. A new police headquarters may also be part of the plan.
And a former printing plant on 19 acres to the east of the train station will be torn down to make way for more residences, retail and commercial space in a series of three- and four-story buildings. The site will also have direct access to Columbia Park, which recently underwent a $2.5-million renovation through the Middlesex County Open Space Trust Fund.
“This project will have a neo-traditional design to mesh with the homes lining the community’s neighborhood streets,” says Jason Kaplan, president of Kaplan Cos. “This community has an authentic town square located just across the street from the transit village, and our designers are molding this project to fit with the small-town character.”
Borough and Kaplan officials say they are now working on a final redevelopment agreement with a spring 2007 groundbreaking as the target. The projected cost of the project hasn’t been released.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 10:26 AM
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