From the Woodbridge Sentinel:
Planners OK project for defunct Gerber site
Continental Developers Inc. will soon convert the old Gerber property site on Green Street into 192 age-restricted multifamily apartment units.
The Zoning Board unanimously approved Continental’s application at the Oct. 26 board meeting, over the objections of several residents.
Most of the residents live on Lyman Avenue, a street behind the Woodbridge Sanitary Pottery manufacturing plant. A 10-foot-high ridge of toilets, urinals, bidets and sinks has slowly accumulated on the site over the past four decades.
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The application calls for demolishing all the existing structures on the 22.22-acre site, which currently houses the manufacturing plant.Continental wants to construct a 192-unit adult housing project, which will contain 154 market-rate, two-bedroom units and 38 one-bedroom affordable units.
The plan also calls for six three-story buildings, each containing 32 units, with a total of 387 total parking spaces. The parking spaces include 132 garage spaces, 132 driveway spaces, and 123 parking lot spaces. The proposal also includes a clubhouse with a pool.
From the Star Ledger:
Development plans at former GE factory remain stalled
A $200 million proposal to transform the former General Electric factory into condominiums and lofts is on hold again.
For the second month in a row, the development firm behind the proposed Parkway Lofts was granted an adjournment yesterday on the company’s application be fore the zoning board to create housing on the industrial-only designated portion of the East Orange site.
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Prism wants to build 767 residential units — expensive condominium lofts and penthouses in the six-story brick plant. The factory was constructed in 1917-1918, half in East Orange and half in Bloomfield. Prism also has proposed 12 mid-rise apartment buildings and 26 townhouses, all on the Bloomfield portion.
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The proposed Parkway Lofts units — expected to range anywhere from 975 square feet to 1,470 square feet — would be priced from $370,000 to $700,000.
will contain 154 market-rate, two-bedroom units and 38 one-bedroom affordable units.
Interesting way to say market rate is not affordable.
KL
Just what NJ needs, one more dinosaur graveyard. I have 3 such communities by me with 2 more being built. It’s like Boco Raton but with crappy weather. Forget real estate as a way to get rich quick, I’am thinking bring the Early Bird Special Restuarant to NJ. Just one more example that town planning boards could care less about young couples and families.
Am I the only one amused by the irony of a place named ‘Gerber’ (one of the largest producers of baby food nationally) is going to be designed for the elderly?
“Depends Estates”? “Bengay Parks”?
Joking aside, it IS what NJ needs… a place for older/retirees to live, near family, in a comfortable environment… and allowing them to dump their home back on the market..which will improve supply of SFH in NJ (at least part of the problem), and eliminate maintanence for the older-relocating crowd. It really helps, potentially, our situation IMHO.
Just one more example that town planning boards could care less about young couples and families.
Yup. The towns see age restricted communities as a way to generate property tax revenue without putting additional strain on the school system. If you are a developer, it’s a way to ease the draconian municipal approval process in NJ.
Sometime in the next few years “age restricted” will probably get its own segment in Census data and the MLS. As I have been tracking ask prices in Monmouth and Ocean counties, the presence of “age restricted” properties really confounds the data on prices of both SFHs and TH/condos. Because age-restricted tend to be at both ends of the spectrum (though much more prevalent at the low end), and all but non-existent in the middle.
I haven’t taken the time (because I don’t have it) to try and separate out age restricteds, but the median Ocean County asking price for an age restricted SFH is probably about $140K while a general use SFH is closer to $400K.
As JB says, even at these prices, these homes may still be overpriced.
Age-restricted housing puts strain on schools. It’s just that the effect isn’t direct, so it is overlooked.
Who moves to NJ age restricted communities? Downsizers that wish to remain local. Very few, if any, out of staters move here to retire.
So, you have an adult couple living in a community. They chose to downsize and move into age-restricted. What do they do? Sell the home.
Unless you guarantee to me, that a couple with kids will not buy that home, there is going to be impact to the school system.
jb
What happens to Age restricted house is given as inheritance to their children?
JB,
I’ve heard that argument before, but I don’t think the zoning boards and town councils are hearing it. I remember being a kid during the 80’s housing boom. My town still had a few farms left that were all bough to build condos. The developers sold the town a bill of goods that the “luxury” condos would be purchased by yuppies commuting to NYC. In reality, many young families moved in because they were priced out of SFH’s.
I’m sure the developers don’t want to towns and zoning boards to realize this. It’s almost as if the words “Age Restricted” were magic.
jb
what normal person other than an illegal would
retire to NJ, the garden state.
Glad to hear that with all the lead contamination associated with such manufacturing there will only be the occasional visiting grandchild.
what normal person other than an illegal would retire to NJ, the garden state.
The only reason would be to stick close to friends and family. However, I would be really concerned about buying in an age restricted community. I think many will chose to pick up and leave NJ behind. Many won’t be able to afford the property taxes. Other will be forced to sell and rent, because they didn’t save enough for retirement.
For retiring illegal immigrants, it would probably make more sense to move back to your country of origin (in fact many actually do this). If not for the job, why stay here? You could save a small nest egg and have a pretty god life back home. In fact, many American retirees are heading south of the border seeking a lower cost of living.