Raritan Considering Redevelopment Options for Former Agway Property

RARITAN, NJ – The former Agway, on Thompson Street, is moving one small step closer to redevelopment – possibly into a mixed-use apartment and retail complex developed by one of the owners of a popular Raritan eatery.

The Sept. 24 council meeting saw a unanimous vote – after some vigorous discussion on the process – to go ahead with a preliminary investigation of the Thompson Street property, legally known as Block 61 Lot 3.01. That is the site where the shuttered garden and feed store sits on two-thirds of an acre of land.

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According to Mayor Nicolas Carra, Espo’s, or more precisely a corporation created by one of the partners in the restaurant, has bought the property. Carra said the redevelopment study, to be conducted by the borough engineer, will detail what the condition of the property is and will lay out what the current zoning allows.

Agway closed two years ago shortly after the death of its owner, lifelong Raritan resident Jeffrey A. Krachun. A fire earlier this month slightly damaged the building after power lines and a transformer were downed by a dump truck delivering soil to the site.

Councilman Michael Patente told the mayor he wished there had been more discussion at the council level before a redevelopment investigation got the OK.

“I’m not saying I’m against it, I’m just saying we never had any discussion here at the council,” he said.

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Carra told the council a conceptual plan had been sent out to all members in the spring, but he never heard any feedback.

“At the redevelopment advisory committee, we met with the owner of the property who’s also the owner of the adjacent property, (Second Street restaurant) Espo’s,” Carra said “They asked the committee if we’d be open to exploring this route for possibly changing the use of the property.”

The advisory committee said they wanted the entire block to be studied as an area that may be in need of redevelopment, said Carra, but the proposal before council was for just the former retail store site.

After the meeting, Carra explained that the newly-formed redevelopment advisory committee was created to bring together the borough engineer, construction officials, council representation and members of the public to discuss on the record to provide greater transparency and accountability for any borough involvement in redevelopment of local properties.

When asked why the proposal only included the Agway, Carra said he did not believe council would have supported a plan that considered redevelopment of the entire block.

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