Perth Amboy, Kushner Companies to finalize agreement for 602 waterfront apartments
PERTH AMBOY - The city is again looking to move forward with Kushner Companies' $200 million plan to build 602 apartments along the city's waterfront and receive a long-term tax break.
The City Council has introduced an ordinance approving the tax break and a financial agreement with Perth A Urban Renewal LLC to redevelop the properties along Front, Commerce, Rector, Broad, High and Fayette streets.
A public hearing and final adoption of the ordinance is scheduled for the City Council's Feb. 12 meeting.
The ordinance comes just five months after the Council tabled a similar ordinance in part because of residents' concerns about whether the former Perth Amboy Police Headquarters and First Aid Squad building, along High and Fayette streets, could be preserved and reused, rather than demolished.
In tabling the ordinance, city officials planned to renegotiate the terms, but a city notice gives no indication whether the historic structure will be saved.
A city spokesperson has not yet responded to a request for comment about those sites.
Perth A Urban Renewal LLC is an affiliate of Landings, which in 2000 reached a redevelopment agreement with the Perth Amboy Redevelopment Agency and Charles Kushner of Kushner Companies, as the redeveloper for the Landings at Harborside.
Kushner has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the United States ambassador to France.
More:Perth Amboy seeking state funding for $1 million upgrade of waterfront park
Kushner Companies has two condominium buildings in Perth Amboy − Bayview, at 368 Rector St., and the Admiral at 358 Rector St. They are part of the planned $600 million Landings at Harborside complex.
In 2017 a confidential settlement was reached between Kushner Companies and 32 condo owners in the Landings at Harborside community after the residents filed a consumer fraud lawsuit alleging construction issues such as water infiltration and insufficient parking. Kushner Companies then suspended all construction of the Landings, but maintained ownership of the property.
Perth A Urban Renewal LLC is now looking to finance, design and construct 602 residential apartments in five, five-story buildings with 909 parking spaces.
The project is scheduled to be built in three phases, according to a public notice.
More:Here's why Raritan Bay YMCA just bought a $2.4 million Perth Amboy rooming house
The plan also authorizes the city to grant a tax exemption and a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), in accordance with the provision of the Long Term Tax Exemption Law.
Upon completion and stabilization of the project, the municipal share of the annual service charge is projected to be about $1.2 million, and the total municipal share of annual service charges is projected to be about $64 million over the term of the tax exemption.
The project is expected to produce about 600 temporary construction jobs with wages estimated at about $44 million.
The project will also require more than $12.5 million in infrastructure improvements, including the construction of a waterfront bulkhead and esplanade, streetscaping, and utility infrastructure improvements as well as about $2 million in environmental contamination/remediation costs.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
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