Steve Cheung's Bella Vita Estates held a grand opening Wednesday. Here is the entrance at 33 Westervelt Avenue, with manager Beverly Jones at left.
Note: The information I was given is slightly at odds with what is on the front page of the Courier News today. Will inquire later.
There are four floors of apartments over ground floor commercial space. Each residential floor has four two-bedroom units and 16 one-bedroom units. Rent is $1,300 for two bedrooms and $1,100 for one bedroom. Tenants are responsible for their own heating and cooling costs in addition to utilities. Each apartment has its own heating and cooling unit, which the tenant controls.
This is a one-bedroom apartment kitchen. All new appliances include a stove, refrigerator and microwave. There will be a laundry room on the second floor.
Tenants must be 55 years or older, but can have family members age 19 or older living with them as long as the elder lives there. Once the elder tenant is no longer there, the younger ones must move out, Jones explained.
The building is just across Roosevelt Avenue from Supremo Supermarket and is accessible to several bus lines as well as the Raritan Valley Line trains.
Steve Cheung redeveloped the Front Street building between Roosevelt and Westervelt that formerly held the Plainfield Senior Center. The center relocated to the next block east, so will be very convenient for the Bella Vita Estates residents. Cheung received city permission to subdivide the parking lot behind the Front Street building and also obtained site plan approval several years ago.
Last year everything came together for the project and construction began.
Partly due to rezoning to permit greater density near train stations and partly because the financial doldrums of the past decade cleared up, apartments are springing up all over the city. See the roster of new or proposed apartments here.
--Bernice
Impressive looking, kudos to the developer!
ReplyDeleteVery nice alright Plainfield. This look amazing
ReplyDeleteLooks great. A wonderful addition to downtown Plainfield.
ReplyDeleteI really hope they have a solid process in place to monitor and ensure all residents meet the 55+ age/child residency requirements.
Enforcement of rules, regulations and policies will help guarantee the success of this development and all others.
I toured Bella Vita yesterday with the developer. The apartments are very nice, with good-sized living rooms with hardwood floors, fabulous kitchens, and 1 or 2 bedrooms. Steve said that they are close to full occupancy. For folks who are downsizing but who want to stay in Plainfield, this spot is perfect. There's also a very nice community room and outdoor lounge area. Good work.
ReplyDeletewow...I must be dreaming...these look like every other public housing development that has gone up in Plainfield. Has anyone looked at what is going up in Fanwood? They show much more creative, imagination and long term planning. I am sorry to disagree with all the others, but this does not make me believe we are headed in the right direction.....I can imagine the retail that will be established...no change. Deborah
ReplyDeleteThis is not public housing, it is market rate according to the manager. I saw HAP people there and asked whether it was involved, but the answer was they have made a lot of referrals. BTW, the new Elmwood Gardens will be townhouse-style construction, not large buildings.
DeleteWhat is wrong with these people(refering to dah).Am glad you stop using the word haters. Who is putting you up to this.Get a life.
DeleteDah - not sure you are dreaming, pretty sure that you just didn't read the entire post - this plan was approved "several years ago" - so this isn't really indicative of what the current vision or direction of development might look like.
DeleteBut - per usual it is great Monday Morning Quarterbacking.
Sounds nice, but most senior citizens can't afford $1100 for an apartment. I thought this was senior housing. I wish I could afford it when I retire, but I guess I'll go to a real senior housing complex. Looks nice, but not the price.
ReplyDeleteBob, hate to disappoint you. but just because it is senior, does not mean poor. Not all seniors are in need of affordable housing. I had senior apartments that were $3,000/mo plus utilities and amenities. I also had others that were based on income and started at $560/mo. There is a very wide spectrum of "senior housing" in NJ. Something for everyone. The outside of this one is a bit blah with its tacky stucco, but the units look nice. Nice addition to the downtown.
ReplyDeleteIf you read my comment, I was talking about this particular building, not the senior housing that only takes 1/3 of your income. For many seniors the $1100 is a lot of their monthly income. I'm not sure if seniors who can easily afford this will want to live in downtown Plainfield. If so, the place looks nice and more power to them. Have a nice holiday.
DeleteAny effort to attract upwardly mobile economically sound residents to downtown should be applauded. This shift will result in a transformation of retail establishments that are geared towards higher disposable incomes. Downtown's current retail state is deplorable and more high end development needs to happen to engender this change.
ReplyDeleteVery modern and nice building , I see lots of new construction going on but they ending normal nothing new, I wish they do these type of buildings for everyone not just 55
ReplyDeleteSuper nice modern building lots of them going on in the city but not ending close to this I hope the keep doing building like it and for anyone not just 55
ReplyDeleteHow are these senior housing, but not all residents are senior? Who's monotorinh2?
ReplyDelete