Published 4:26 PM EST Feb 20, 2017 RARITAN BOROUGH - One of the larger residential developments in recent years in Somerset County will be going before the borough's planning board this week. Raritan Redevelopers Urban Renewal, of Whippany, will present a plan to build a 288,000-square-foot four-story apartment building with 276 units on Third Street between First and Second avenues next to NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line. The plan also calls for a five-level 431-space parking garage.
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READ: Developer wants to build apartments by Raritan train station READ: Apartments, stores might be built next to Pathmark in Middlesex The number of proposed units was reduced from 306 units, when developer Joseph Forgione first appeared before the borough council, which has declared the 3.5-acre site a redevelopment area. The block contains a dozen separate lots with 14 structures. The developer has reached agreements with the property owners. Forgione earlier told the council that half of the apartments will be one-bedroom units, 45 percent will be two-bedrooms and the remaining 5 percent will be studios. Monthly rents will range from $1,650 for the studios, to $2,000 for the one-bedrooms, to $2,300 for the two-bedrooms. Throughout his presentation to the council, Forgione used the phrase 'overamenitized' to describe the project's selling point besides its location a block from the train station.
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'People are looking for a lifestyle more than a place to live,' Forgione said. Besides an open courtyard and fitness area, Forgione said, the building will feature a 'bike-sharing' program so residents can cycle to Somerset Street and the riverfront, a car-sharing program, charging stations for electric vehicles and a meditation room. Forgione said his planner has estimated that only six school-age children will be living in the building, minimizing the impact of the project on the Bridgewater-Raritan School District. Tenants will range across demographic groups, Forgione said, from commuters working in New York City to those who want to have a 'second home' after their children have grown up and moved out.
Forgione said he will build a concrete path to the train station if NJ Transit agrees to cover the path. The station, he added, is 'underutilized.' The proposed development is across from LabCorp, which has its second-largest facility in the country in Raritan Borough. LabCorp officials have told the borough that they plan an expansion of the facility.
The Raritan proposal is the latest apartment building planned adjacent to the Raritan Valley Line from Plainfield to Raritan. The developers hope that increased one-seat service to Manhattan will spark a real estate boom along the train line, much as it did along NJ Transit's Morristown Line.
However, more one-seat ride service is contingent on the construction of a new railroad tunnel under the Hudson River to Manhattan. That project may not be finished until 2026, with the rehabilitation of the present tunnels expected to be completed in 2029. Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; [email protected].