Camino said he wanted to offer value as well as the amenities that characterize development in other towns along railroad lines. Interest has heightened with the promise of a one-seat ride to Manhattan and the corner is just blocks from the main train station on North Avenue.
"We are as excited as you," Mapp said, adding he appreciates the fact that Camino and his partners "will attract dollars and be part of the resurgence" of the city.
Sanchez also assured city support for Camino's goals.
"We're excited that you're taking the challenge with us," Sanchez said.
Mapp said cleaning up Park & Seventh was one of his campaign pledges.
"We will not rest until it's done," he said.
Camino suggested having a satellite police station there and the officials said as of Saturday there will be a police patrol at the corner.
City officials are also in talks with the owners of the former Park Hotel, another of Camino's targets for change. Now a residence for adults, it is often regarded as a source of panhandling and loitering. (Plaintalker believes there are other factors affecting the quality of life at Park & Seventh.)
View from Arkad Group office in downtown Plainfield
Camino's office at 107 Park Avenue is headquarters for his real estate operations and he is also welcoming commercial and professional tenants to the renovated former bank. It is also the base for his promotional site, Queen City Revival.
The building sits at one of the city's busiest crossroads, with north-south and east-west traffic linking Plainfield to its neighboring towns and highways. Many eyes will be on Camino's work, and his pledge is not to disappoint.
--Bernice
Interesting. Late Thursday Jerry Green posted on his blog a Union County press release announcing $784,490 in North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority funding for upgrades to three intersections on West 7th: at Grant, Plainfield, and Central Aves. Conspicuous is the absence of Park and 7th.
ReplyDeletehttp://jerrygreenspage.blogspot.com/
Park & 7th was upgraded in 2008.
Deletehttp://plaintalker.blogspot.com/2008/07/busy-intersection-going-high-tech.html
This is awesome news. Now all we need is for the police to make sure the loud and panhandling people who hang out on the other side of the street from this building are told to move on. I'm tired of people being afraid to visit me, I'm a block away, because of the people they see in front of Little Caesar's and the liquor store. We need to clean up this trash or no one will want to move into the new development or want to walk to the train station.
ReplyDeleteMore apartments, more renters .. just what Plainfield needs. And where will these yuppies-to-be park? Most professional families both adults work and have cars. Are the streets around Park and Seventh going to be crammed with parked cars if this project is successful? 14 apartments means at least 14-28 cars parking needed.
ReplyDeleteThere are spaces in Municipal Lot 7 across the street. The developer can secure permits. This is a question that will be answered in the review process.
DeleteThat's every developer's answer -- use the municipal lots. There are not enough spaces in the municipal lots for this development and all the other proposed and existing apartments in this part of the city.
DeleteThis is flaw with "transit-oriented" development. The city planner and developers don't somehow think people that live near a train station will have cars.
The yuppies/well-to-do that they want to attract are going to have cars. It's idealistic and pie-in-the-sky to think a professional couple is not going to have at least one car.
Right now there are landlords charging their tenants for parking spots. You don't see it Bernice, because you're not driving.
There are parts of the city at night that the roads are parked up on both sides of the street.
Maybe Mayor Mapp, the Economic director and Mr. Nierstedt should drive around town at night to see what is going on.
Building without making the developer have adequate parking will turn Plainfield into Hoboken -- crammed with cars.
I'm not against re-development. Buy why, why, WHY is it always about building more apartments? We have too many renters as it is. If the developer can't attract the high-end clients they want, it will end up low-income housing.
That building once held BUSINESSES. I don't see ANY PLAN to attract business to Plainfield, taking advantage of the train.
I believe that I have read blog posts about additional parking being studied (i.e. parking decks) so not sure why people seem to jump to conclusions so quickly. Bernice is a great reporter but I am sure she will admit that she isn't providing every fact regarding each and every development and the related city goals surrounding them.
DeleteAs for this chronic "renters renters, no more renters", what would people suggest as an alternative? Should this building be torn down and two single family homes built instead? That doesn't seem to make sense since we have existing unsold inventory available and the location would be terrible for single family homes. OR, we could look at renters as potential shoppers, potential shop owners, and participants in the community. The world is shifting to a rent/lease world and there is no reason Plainfield should miss out on it because 1) people get hysterical about renters and 2) they take a very informative yet incomplete blog post and freak out about parking etc. Its called progress and it has been in short supply in Plainfield for many many years - lets look at the issues and try to resolve them like adults. If we don't, the other cities and towns along the Raritan Valley line will be quite happy to fill their developments and leave us in the dust.
The sky isn't falling - so just relax.
yes, i am a street parker.and dont like it 1 car in the lot.the other one on the street...or, if i want another spot i have 2 pay for it. the other night my car got hit.no note no sorry nothing.and the slumlords are thinking about 1 thing only..moneyyyyyyyy.
ReplyDeleteEvery unit in this city that is built should have 2 or more parking spaces. Rents are only going up not down and it is taking 2 people to support even a 1 bedroom apartment. If more people would show up at the planning board and tell developers NO MORE APARTMENTS WITHOUT AT LEAST 2 PARKING SPACES AND A FEW SAPCES FOR GUEST maybe we could see a change in how things are run in this city.
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:37 - can you tell me what the current requirement is for parking for apartment units?
DeleteAlso - when was the last time rent ever went down? Its called inflation and it has been happening for hundreds of years.
I'm sure at minimum the ordinance says one parking spot per apartment. The reality is a couple living in a one bedroom apartment, to afford a $1200 rent per month, most likely needs two cars.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone works in the city and takes the train.
Other towns, yes are doing development. They aren't allowing for the realities of parking either. You can see the results when you drive through -- parking crammed everywhere.
Where are visitors supposed to park? Where are patrons of the downstairs retail establishments?
Where there is sufficient mass transit (NYC, Hoboken) you can get by with no car. But, Plainfield is in the 'burbs. To get to any decent stores you need a car -- and that is the present reality.
Right now downtown is a Spanish ghetto. If I was an upscale renter, looking at no parking or parking at a municipal lot, with the downtown looking as it does, with the people hanging on the corners -- I would look elsewhere.
And that's the current reality.
The city -- to support the upscale apartment and retail development -- needs to get the streets cleaned up, enforce our current codes.
Just expecting "new development" to magically make things better is crazy. Look at the Monarch. A beautiful building next to a liquor store where the drunks hang out and not enough parking. Very bad planning.
I am Cuban and I can't agree more with Ms. Lynch. I stay away from Front Street with their cheap merchandise and loud ghetto Spanish music. There is nothing attractive about downtown Plainfield, especially when you have the "corner" regulars.
ReplyDelete