Published in the Star-Ledger, Sunday, August 5, 2007
From old to young: McCutchen Home slated for Yeshiva
BY CATHY BUGMAN
Star-Ledger Staff
A stately North Plainfield mansion formerly used as the McCutchen Friends Home for senior citizens is to be converted into a yeshiva where young men pursue religious studies primarily within Orthodox Judaism.
A yeshiva now operating in Springfield, Union County, is under contract to purchase the elegant Queen Anne-style edifice on Rockview Avenue, said Theodore Gast, the yeshiva's attorney from Watchung.
Terms of the sale between property owner Yearly Meeting Friends Home, a Quaker organization, and Yeshiva Tiferes Boruch have not been disclosed. But the 15,000-square-foot mansion and extra building space in the form of a nursing home addition and apartments -- all sitting on 2.09 acres making up what equates to a city block -- was on the market for $2,250,000, officials said.
"It's a magnificent structure, really something to behold," Allen Rosenberg, the real estate agent who handled the transaction for Coldwell Banker in Warren Township, said of the mansion, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Regarded as one of the country's premier examples of Queen Anne-style architecture, the three-story mansion is surrounded by a vintage stone wall and gardens once offered for tours, Rosenberg said.
"It's the showcase of the Washington Park historic district," said Frank D'Amore, who lives in the district.
Representatives of the yeshiva are expected to appear before the zoning board on Aug. 29 or Sept. 5 to gain a use variance to operate on the property, which is zoned for residential houses. Eighty students would attend the school.
"We hope the sale goes through," said Carol Stern, a Newark attorney representing Yearly Meeting Friends Home.
Meanwhile, the yeshiva is holding off on pursuing its case before the Springfield zoning board involving a school it opened in a converted split-level home. It maintains the new school on South Springfield Avenue is operating no differently from the one operating out of an Evergreen Avenue home the township approved years ago.
"It's essentially on hold because of the anticipated move to North Plainfield," said Bruce Pitman, the attorney representing the yeshiva on that case.
Mayor Janice Allen said she hopes the yeshiva, if it gets approval to locate there, will be open to welcome community members inside as the senior citizens home had traditionally done.
As of June 1, the property was no longer considered tax-exempt, meaning it was returned to the tax rolls with the expectation that taxes would be paid on its assessment of $1,462,600, Tax Assessor Barbara Flaherty said. Before June, it was regarded as a nonprofit, tax-exempt nursing home property, as it was and continues to be owned by the Yearly Meeting Friends Home.
The prospect of injecting new life into what little remains of a once-thriving Jewish population in the Plainfield-North Plainfield area has the Jewish community cautiously optimistic about the yeshiva's establishment.
"This might encourage some people to move into the area," said retired Rabbi Moshe Samber, who once led a conservative congregation in Plainfield.
"We absolutely welcome them into Somerset County," said Orthodox Rabbi Shmaya Krinsky, spiritual leader of the Chabad Center of Southern Somerset County.
Sheri Bechtel contributed to this report. Cathy Bugman may be reached at cbugman@starledger.com or at (908) 429-9925.
Online story here. Archived here.
(Note: Online stories may be taken down by their publisher after a period of time or made available for a fee. Links posted here is from the original online publication of this piece.)
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
Showing posts with label Zoning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zoning. Show all posts
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Redevelopment - Ledger- Flemington developer wants project rezoned
Published in the Star-Ledger, Friday, July 13, 2007
Developer looking to rezone his townhomes
Wants age restrictions cut in Flemington
BY JOHN HOLL
Star-Ledger Staff
Citing a downturn in the real estate market, the owner of a Flemington property zoned for senior living is asking the borough for a change.
Dennis Gabinelli hopes the planning board will rezone the 2.7-acre Allen Street properties so he can make the units available to the general public.
"There is interest," he said, "just not by people who are eligible."
Approved for the project in 2005, Gabinelli completed 16 of 22 planned units and so far all of them are empty.
People age 55 and older are eligible to purchase the properties, according to the zoning rules.
The plan calls for 14 two-bedroom townhouse units priced starting at $350,000. There are also four one-bedroom units that start at $220,000. Four units are to be designated as affordable housing, with a price around $80,000.
The board was scheduled to hear Gabinelli plea on Wednesday night but continued the matter to their next meeting on July 24.
Should the board side with Ga binelli, they would need to find new places in town to meet the state's affordable housing standards.
"If the units were no longer affordable units, however, then Flemington would have to provide alternative units," said Chris Donnelly, a spokesman for the state department of community affairs.
Gabinelli's attorney, Julie Goldstein, dismissed questions that opening the units up to the general public could potentially bring new families to town who would use the borough's already overcrowded school system.
"By design, by price, these are not the types of properties that would appeal to people with school-aged children," said Goldstein.
Sue Bennett, an Allen Street neighbor, said she would just like to see the units filled.
"It's too bad seniors are not staying to be close to their children," she said. "But, we don't want to see them empty."
Following the meeting on Wednesday night, Gabinelli walked through the model unit at the complex, a town house appointed with hardwood floors, stainless steel ap pliances and cherry wood kitchen cabinets. He would like to sell to seniors, he said, but no one is buy ing. "I don't want to give this to the bank," he said. "I need help."
John Holl may be reached at jholl@starledger.com or (908) 782-8326.
Link to online story.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
Developer looking to rezone his townhomes
Wants age restrictions cut in Flemington
BY JOHN HOLL
Star-Ledger Staff
Citing a downturn in the real estate market, the owner of a Flemington property zoned for senior living is asking the borough for a change.
Dennis Gabinelli hopes the planning board will rezone the 2.7-acre Allen Street properties so he can make the units available to the general public.
"There is interest," he said, "just not by people who are eligible."
Approved for the project in 2005, Gabinelli completed 16 of 22 planned units and so far all of them are empty.
People age 55 and older are eligible to purchase the properties, according to the zoning rules.
The plan calls for 14 two-bedroom townhouse units priced starting at $350,000. There are also four one-bedroom units that start at $220,000. Four units are to be designated as affordable housing, with a price around $80,000.
The board was scheduled to hear Gabinelli plea on Wednesday night but continued the matter to their next meeting on July 24.
Should the board side with Ga binelli, they would need to find new places in town to meet the state's affordable housing standards.
"If the units were no longer affordable units, however, then Flemington would have to provide alternative units," said Chris Donnelly, a spokesman for the state department of community affairs.
Gabinelli's attorney, Julie Goldstein, dismissed questions that opening the units up to the general public could potentially bring new families to town who would use the borough's already overcrowded school system.
"By design, by price, these are not the types of properties that would appeal to people with school-aged children," said Goldstein.
Sue Bennett, an Allen Street neighbor, said she would just like to see the units filled.
"It's too bad seniors are not staying to be close to their children," she said. "But, we don't want to see them empty."
Following the meeting on Wednesday night, Gabinelli walked through the model unit at the complex, a town house appointed with hardwood floors, stainless steel ap pliances and cherry wood kitchen cabinets. He would like to sell to seniors, he said, but no one is buy ing. "I don't want to give this to the bank," he said. "I need help."
John Holl may be reached at jholl@starledger.com or (908) 782-8326.
Link to online story.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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