Petrucci Development Co. plans to build a five-story, 218-unit “high end” rental apartment building at 120 Chubb Ave. with 20% of the units reserved as “affordable” housing, according to plans filed with the Meadowlands Regional Commission.
That translates to 174 “market-rate” rental apartments and 44 for “low and moderate income” tenants, with the units spread between the second and fifth floors and an enclosed garage taking up the ground floor.
There would be 103 one-bedroom units, renting for $2,000 per month, and 71 two-bedroom units, priced at $2,200 per month, among the market rate apartments while the affordable housing section would have eight one-bedroom units, 27 two-bedrooms and nine three-bedrooms, renting for $984, $1,182 and $1,365 per month, respectively.
A total of 349 parking spaces would be provided between the garage and surface parking, based on a ratio of 1.6 spaces per apartment.
The developer proposes to tear down the existing 81,000 square foot warehouse/office building and elevate the construction site one foot above the flood plain before undertaking pile driving to provide a foundation for the new structure. The site was filled in during the 1970s and a building was erected there in 1979 to house a Rolls Royce Motor Cars facility until 1995 when Daewoo Electronics acquired it for offices, storage and sales. The property has been vacant since it was sold in 2007.
A site investigation in 2014 showed “lead above DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection) standard, typically noted in fill materials plus metals in the groundwater,” according to the applicant’s site assessment report. A “soil cap” would be installed as part of a remediation plan to be supervised by an LSRP (Licensed Site Remediation Professional).
A fiscal impact study prepared by Value Research Group of Livingston notes that the existing property yielded $291,591 in real estate taxes in 2014 but the improved property – whose value is projected at $39.2 million – is expected to generate $1,062,000 in annual taxes, of which the net revenue – subtracting municipal and school costs – would be $549,112.
The project figures to accommodate among the 218 apartments a total of 441 occupants, including up to 34 school-age children. Altogether, the new residents would account for a 2% increase in the township’s population.
As a result of the additional school children, the township’s meadowlands tax sharing obligation would be reduced, from the current $638,663 to $413,000, the applicant’s report says.
An estimated 100 construction- related jobs would be needed for the new building which, upon completion, would require eight permanent employees.
A traffic analysis prepared by Dolan & Dean of Martinsville forecasts that the new development will account for 92 vehicles during the morning rush and 112 in the afternoon rush. Overall, the impact on local roads “will be less than the traffic generated by full re-occupancy of the existing building …,” the report says. The site will be accessed via two “full-movement” driveways along Chubb Ave.
– Ron Leir
