RARITAN BOROUGH – The Raritan Mall will remain "decrepit" for now.
A $96.3 million plan to redevelop the nearly vacant shopping center at the intersection of Orlando Drive and Route 206 was unanimously rejected by the Borough Council on Tuesday following vocal opposition by residents.
The plan called for the transformation of the 12.2-acre tract, which was called "exceptionally decrepit" in a redevelopment study, into a mixed-used development with 276 apartments and two retail spaces totaling 28,000 square feet.
According to a financial report drafted by NW Financial Group, if the project were built and the borough and developer signed a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement, the municipality could receive an estimated $36.65 million from the developer through the lifetime of the 30-year agreement.
If the property is not redeveloped, the borough would only realize $6.9 million in property taxes over 30 years, the study found. If the property is redeveloped without a PILOT, the borough would only gain $18.3 million.
The proposal’s rejection means an entire new redevelopment plan has to be drafted and proceed through the lengthy redevelopment process which could cause more years to pass before the revitalization of the property that once housed a Stop & Shop supermarket, a drug store and a variety of other businesses, including a bank and a Blockbuster Video.
The Borough Council's vote came after residents, none of whom voiced support of the plan, peppered developer Lenny Dimentman with questions about the project and his background.
That prompted Council President Don Tozzi to say he was "not ready to vote" on the redevelopment plan because he needed to do more research after residents raised a "lot more questions."
Tozzi originally proposed to table a vote on the plan until December, but Mayor Nick Carra said that meant the council would still be grappling with the same plan and the same objections from residents. The council defeated the motion to table the vote and then voted to reject the plan which had been up for a public hearing and final vote.
The opposition to the project was fierce.
"Anybody who votes for this is a moron," said Roger Copt, one of the plan's most vocal opponents.
Though he said the shopping center should be redeveloped, "putting 500 people in a flood zone is not a good idea," Copt said.
Saying that "things look shady in Raritan," Copt said the borough doesn't need that many more apartments.
"We'd become the apartment capital of New Jersey," he said.
The shopping center is next to The Lena, an apartment building with 224 units, and the borough has approved more than 70 apartments in a redevelopment of the Granetz building adjacent to the northeastern corner of the shopping center. Construction is also continuing on an apartment building about a half mile west on Orlando Drive.
The public hearing on the plan deviated from procedure and became a freeflowing question-and-answer session between residents and Dimentman.
Some residents questioned if Dimentman was going to remediate the environmental problems with the site which was once a landfill.
Frank Taddeo, Dimentman's attorney, said the state Department of Environmental Protection would oversee the remediation and its "standards are much stricter now than they were five years ago, ten years ago."
Taddeo said, "public safety is paramount" and the developer would have to adhere to whatever the DEP determined.
The mall and Orlando Drive were built in the 1980s and was seen as an eastern gateway to the borough along the Raritan River.
Other residents criticized Dimentman for not listening to their concerns.
"You're not showing any consideration," one said.
Others, citing alleged code violations present at the shopping center, expressed doubts about Dimentman's credibility.
"How can we trust you?" one resident asked him.
"We haven't done anything shady," Dimentman said.
Others expressed concerns about the site being susceptible to flooding from the Raritan River and the height of the proposed building.
Raritan Mall LLC purchased the property, which is in a flood hazard area, in October 2020 for $5.6 million from Raritan Center SPE Owner, part of the Fortress Investment Group in Manhattan.
Fortress acquired the property when a previous owner, RAIT Financial Trust, of Philadelphia, went bankrupt and sold its assets to Fortress.
The shopping center lost its primary tenant in 2016 when Stop & Shop chose not to renew its lease. A redevelopment study says that no new tenant has been found for the space "despite efforts from the municipality to attract a suitable replacement."
Raritan Mall LLC has agreed to pay $350,000 for improvements to Orlando Drive. The developer has also agreed to work with the borough and Somerset County to facilitate the transfer of Orlando Drive to Somerset County.
Of the 276 apartments in the rejected plan, 234 would have been market-rate units with 42 affordable units. The market-rate apartments would be 144 one-bedroom units, 59 one-bedroom and den units and 31 two-bedroom units. The affordable units would be eight one-bedroom apartments, 25 two-bedroom apartments and nine three-bedroom apartments.
The two retail spaces would be 18,000 square feet and 10,000 square feet. John McDonough, the developer's professional planner, said the retail space "is enough for a specialized grocer."
Dimentman said the "luxury" apartments would be targeted for people making $70,000 a year.
"It's going to be the best building in town," he said.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
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