Uh, this is really nice. This is a great turnout. I was thinking with back to school night going on and the different schools and everything else that's happening that the turnout wouldn't be this good, but I'm very happy to see each and every one of you here. And I'm excited about this project. I'm Elsie
Foster, as you can tell by the picture. Um, and I'm happy to be here because here's another great project that we're going to be working on to improve our downtown. Um, this is one of three projects that you'll see. The first one
was where we're working on track C. And then you saw what we're going to be doing in our downtown plaza. And here we have track A. And track 8 is a great project that I believe that um upon completion that each and every one of
you will be very happy to see. But before we go about completion, we want to show you what we have to offer tonight. Deb Tamlin is here and this is her project and I'm happy that she's doing this project in particular. But we I'm not going to steal anybody's
thunder. So what I want to do is introduce council member Matt A. and he is the chair of our economic development. Um he's that leazison for that committee and he has been working with Deb and Terry and Matisha to bring
this project and the rest of the council to bring this project to fruition. So tonight you'll get a glimpse of what's going on. You'll have an opportunity to do some Q&As's and tell us what you like, what you don't like, and get to get this great project on its way. Thank
you, Matt. Thank you very much. Uh it's great to see everybody out here and thank you so much for coming. Um as Elsie said, I'm Matt Hail. I'm chair of the economic development uh committee. Um I just wanted to give a shout out to to Jason Posteneck and Norma Vargas who are here
also on the economic development committee and Phil George and Matt Hirs are also council members. This is really a project for um for all of us. And then I don't see if I see Stephanie, but she might come in later. But, you know, downtown redevelopment is is really what this council and the mayor have really
focused our efforts on in so many different ways. Um, and it's really exciting to sort of start to see how that that comes out. Um, so what I just wanted to do today is just kind of go over some of the format, how we're going to uh uh go through the the the process
today. Um, uh, and uh, and then we'll we'll go from there. Um, so we're going to start off with some presentations. Um, uh, Deb's going to come up and Terry's going to come up and sort of give some background about, um, how we got here, um, and and the process for
getting here. Um, and then our fantastic partner, Dave Tantliff, is going to come up and sort of do the big reveal, you know, at some point. Um, you know, it's important to remember that all developments take a long time, right? They just do. Um, and so the stuff that you're going to see tonight is sort of
the the first time that we've kind of shared some of the the visions that we've been working on for several years. Um, it's not a a uh a finished product. Um, it will be finished um at at some point, but this is uh where we're hoping we're going to get your feedback. We're hoping we're going to get um uh all of
your comments about your wishes and dreams and hopes. And the best way that we're going to do that um is we have comment cards and they're spread out throughout all up here. if you have questions, you have comments, if you have ideas, um we'd love to hear those. We'd love to have those uh available to
us, um so that we're making sure that what we see as a great vision is something that's a great vision for for as many people as possible. Um so it's uh uh I encourage everybody to take the comment card, put those out there um uh as well. Um after our presentations, we
have stations that are set up in the back um that have some more information. um you can just go station to station and just see uh some of the different visions that are out there. Um again, another place for talking and having comments um as well. Um and uh uh at the
end of the meeting, all of the meeting materials are going to be up uh on our website, so you can uh again take a look at those and as you if something strikes you later on, please feel free uh to to bring it back. Um this is an exciting project. It's it's a huge gap in our
downtown. It's uh from second all the way almost all the way down. Um where there's just sort of like this uh buck tooth gap in the middle of of of Highland Park that we're going to put in a really really nice project and so we're very excited about that. Um and um
again if you have any questions, if you have any comments, feel free to reach out to me or any of the other council members. And also um again, those comment cards are are are going to be important. Okay. So, um, thank you so much for coming. We really appreciate it. Um, this is a great turnout. Um, and
let's get let's get moving. So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to our fantastic economic development. Oh, she's also the burough administrator, but she's really the economic development person. And Terry is going to come up and uh and give you some history about how we got here.
>> Thanks, Matt. And uh this is the debut of my head shot that I got at a conference room recently. I'll take some comments on that as well. I'm not sure I like it. Uh but uh thanks for coming tonight. I'm really excited to get to this stage in this project that we're
able to talk to you a little more specifically about what we think will work over here. Uh but as Matt indicated, uh we really would like to um uh take a little time to how we got to this point because while some of you may
be the first you're hearing about it, this project's been in the pipeline for quite a while. And so I'm going to walk you through kind of our general redevelopment history with downtown planning in particular. uh look at track day a more specifically and what we've been doing and how we got to Deb and
Tantum and Arden redevelopment, whatever you want to call it, and then where we're going to go from there. And then the fun part really starts. We'll get to see the project and how how it's kind of going to come together. Um but I didn't want to not I want to make sure I acknowledge that this is a true team
effort and part of the economic development team that are in that room helping move chairs around. Retia Vartekch, our economic development coordinator. Um, and then Kevin McManaman from McMan Scotland development, our redevelopment council. They're all here and these are
all parts of the pieces that, you know, make the these projects come together. So, I want to thank them for being here tonight and also for getting us to this point as well. Uh, so let me jump right in. Uh this is kind of an overview of
what the burrow has done to try to advance downtown redevelopment efforts. And those of you who came to our track C community meeting a while back, and I'll talk a little bit about the various sites in town, um might recognize some of these points, but I thought it was worth repeating tonight. Um the
burough's been thinking about redevelopment in the downtown for a really long time. um to the point where coming into the 2003 master plan adoption, it emerges as an important revitalization strategy and theme. And if it's in the master plan in 2003, it
means you've been talking about it for a while before that. So these are kind of benchmarks in time. And the idea that we need to look at the properties downtown, see what we can do to revitalize and also um stimulate economic development
has been something we've been talking about for quite a while. Uh in 2005, uh the Burough Council at the time adopted an area need of redevelopment designation for various parcels in in the downtown. It did include the tract A, which is what we're here to talk
about tonight, as well as other properties in the downtown, including those in the track C area, portions of them. So, these are areas we've been studying and thinking about for quite a while. And then the redevelopment plan for that area was adopted in 2005 as
well. And I'll kind of breeze through some of these. We had master plan re-examinations. We had uh in 2010 that also emphasized the need for economic development and revitalization. Um and uh in 2016 we
ended up kind of putting a new tool into play which we didn't need to use for this project but you heard us talk about a burrowwide area need of redevelopment designation which allows us to do more sight specific uh redevelopment plans in target areas. Uh that's how we've been
using the tool. Um but it's not in with a redevelopment designation. Um, in 2017, uh, the Burough Council authorized, uh, acquisition fund to stimulate the ability for the bureau to get a little skin in the game to
purchase properties to get the the redevelopment process going because, as you can see, between 2003 to 2017, we really hadn't seen something take hold. So the idea I wasn't there at the time, but I I'm presuming the idea was we need to make
an investment in our downtown to make these projects happen. So there was a a a bond issue that funded acquisitions and you'll hear about some of the properties we purchased shortly and that's the fund we used to do that. Um
2019 uh master plan and the land use element also echo this focus on redevelopment, revitalization, and the land use element even goes a little deeper in the downtown corridor to try to emphasize redevelopment in that area.
Um which got us to the 2021 downtown red development plan for tracks A to D. I wish we'd come up with a cooler title, but that's that's what it is. Um and those are the the four tracks that you see up here. Although the map you're looking at here is the refers to the
amended plan that happened in 2024, we did do some amendments related to track C to accommodate additional lots that were part of the plan. Uh and we talked about it at the other meeting and it's up on our website if you want to know more about it. But in general, the plan
emphasizes the redevelopment of all four of these sites. Um, track D when we went out for an RFP, which I'll talk about again in a minute, uh, didn't quite materialize yet and we haven't quite figured out what we're going to do there yet, but that's still on our our radar.
But in general, you can see we've been at it for a while. Um, so taking a look at tract A more specifically, for those of you who aren't as familiar with it, it's kind of an aerial shot on the left of the sites
we're talking about. Um, and it's one of our more desolate parts of of Main Street. Um, it's right kind of as you come over the hill into Highland Park, right where you know it first went through is why I always tell first went through it would be right here. So, it's
south first down there. So, it it's dominated by what is now former automotive uses and the gun and boat former gun and boat property which also had automotive uses in it as well. um we had there were concerns about
environmental conditions related to those uses and those of the uh dry cleaner use that was there as that is there now as well. So we've got environmental concerns, we've got an autocentric kind of vibe, for lack of a
better term uh for this area and we've got um a very unfriendly to pedestrians and kind of commercial activity kind of design and layout. Um, so this for for I think pretty obvious reasons has been in
the kind of minds of the governing bodies over time to try to address through redevelopment. So this is just kind of a sprinkling of that. So what have we been up to? Um, and I I tried to go back a little bit uh to at least
before my time and uh I start this kind of I'm kind of focused more on formal actions outside of the adoption of the plans. But in 2015, what was our redevelopment agency at the time designated HP redevelopment partners who not necessarily coincidentally was in
Dev Tanliff, our developer that you'll be meeting shortly, was involved with a similar project proposal back in 2015. They named that development team as the redeveloper conditionally and they tried to pursue redevelopment for a number of
years to get it over the hump. uh the agency with and the bureau with support from the county in 2017 uh decided to approach DP to get grant funding to study some of the sites for with regard to environmental conditions.
So the bureau secured uh grants for three properties in 2017, one for Gunn, which also includes the vacant lot next door to it. Um here I'll just show you on this little map. So where's Gunny Boat? over here and then there's this
vacant it's it's vacant but it had a parking lot on it and had tanks on it at one point um to study that and as well as for classic cleaners uh dry cleaning operation. So again the idea was we need to get a handle on what the conditions
were so that we could figure out acquisition strategy um and what would be involved and to clean it up and to redevelop it. Um and again I just rementioned that acquisition fund is happening at the same time. That's why I kind of feel the the idea was we really
need to be a little more proactive as a burrow to try to make change happen in this area. Um so moving forward into 2019 uh we started acquiring properties in tract A. The first is the purchase of
101 Ronin Avenue which is on this corner right here at the left side of the property. Um that was where the lower Ren wershed has their um boat shop in and we it's been great to have the partnership with them uh to use the property while it's kind of pending in
the redevelopment. Uh and so it's been great to see that building get a little extra use for the next few few year or so or so. Um and then in 2020 we move forward with an area in need of redevelopment with condemnation
designation for 1271-133 Ren otherwise known as gun vote. Uh and some vacant lots on Dennis Street there. Um that was done after a whole study by our planner and reviewed by the planning board. Microphone
>> sorry. Okay. Oh, it does go up. One second. But it doesn't seem to want to hold. >> I'll just hold it. >> There was a red light on it. >> Oh, she did. >> All right. I might have hit the button. You're not supposed to hit according to
Megan. And I don't know if Megan's still here, but I should have thanked her for all her help. She works here in this facility and has helped us set it all up tonight. Um the Sorry, I'll just double back. So 101 Ritton in 2019 and then in
2020 uh we basically studied the site uh the former gun and boats property and those vacant lots as potentially areas in need of redevelopment with combination powers uh as part of that similar acquisition strategy. um in 2021, we were able to purchase the
property um from the um the folks that inherited the property um and uh by just through negotiations in 2021. And then that brings us to 2022 when the Tansen Fidelco now HPEN redevelopment uh was
named as our conditional developer. I'm going to talk about that in a subsequent slide a little bit more. So, I'm just I'm trying to give you the sense of like, okay, we're building some momentum, trying to make some progress to try to make this plan really happen. In 2022, we ended up filing a
declaration of taking a condemnation for those street lots and the purchase went through uh via that process the following year. So, slowly we're we're acquiring the properties necessary. Uh in 2024, we had a really fun project. It
really dates back prior to that, but working very closely with uh Depp's team at Tantum uh negotiated the purchase of Uberies, but it wasn't a a traditional purchase. Um we were able to purchase another property that had been vacant,
uh Woodbridge on Woodbridge Avenue, 75 Woodbridge, formerly PNK Auto. Um fix it up and then relocate Uberries there and then swap properties. So, I made it sound really easy in those three words. Uh, but it was a agreement about this
that and um a lot of moving parts, but we were able to make that it work and now we have a very vibrant business over there at 75 Blue and uh we've got the site hopefully ready for our project to
move forward. So, just trying to give you a sense for the amount of effort and and and time we've taken to try to inch this, you know, project forward. And then most recently, some of you may have heard, uh, we following a similar protocol, we filed an area needed
redevelopment combination designation for 125 Burton, which is our classic cleaners property. That property actually, it's the cleaners, but it's um, uh, this lot next door and this lot behind. They're all kind of bundled even
though the the front is what faces. Um the uh that occurred after a study by our planner and the planning board reviewed you following the same process we followed on some of these other sites. So that kind of brings you up to where we are now. I think I just pressed
that button. Excuse me. >> Do you think you need new batteries for that? No, it's there's there's like a kill switch on this. >> Oh, I was warned I was warned not to touch it and all I want to do is touch it. Uh, so let me go to the next slide so somebody else can have fun with this
thing. Um, so how did we find HP Ren? You have to tell me the backstory on that name. >> Raren and Dennis. >> Oh, and Dennis. I never thought of that. I was like, why is it not Ron? So anyway,
how did we get there? We used the same process that we we did an RFP. We issued it in I guess wow December of 2021. Uh and we for tracks A, C, and D in that downtown redevelopment plan that I
mentioned earlier. And we got four proposals and we did interviews. We had a committee uh do interviews in this very room as I was reminded earlier. And uh we kind of looked at each one individually and we ended up the first
one we designated was track garden homes. Uh and then right on its heels we moved forward with Tansson Fidelco at the time but is now reconstituted as HBO um as our conditional developer for this
property. Um, I will mention one of the things that the conditional developer designation does is it kind of commits us both to working together in earnest to make the project happen. So, that partnership is what led to that uh
agreement with Uberies. It's what's gotten us to this point. So, I just want to point that out as it point. And it also helps fund the operation and that's the skin in the game the developer brings is to help fund the professionals uh that we have employed to make the the
technical work happen. So that's an you'll hear us talk about conditional developers in other projects and it's an important stage in the in the process. And so where we are kind of in the short run, um just so you kind of because this has been a what 20-y year timeline here,
uh we're we're we're at a a point where tonight we're excited. You're going to hear more from the development team about what their proposal is and how they work and what what they're looking to do in Highland Park and uh which we have worked very closely together to get
to this point. Um but we'd like to hear from you about it. So, we're going to uh present and then we're going to move to the back end and we're going to do one-on-one conversations and questions and answers and comment cards and all the things that Matt mentioned earlier. Um, but then as another step, we fully
expect to see that we might need to do some amendments to that redevelopment plan that we did in 2021. We didn't touch the provisions for tract A when we did that last amendment because we as we experienced with track C, we know that there now that we know what kind of building we want, we know we have to
look at our design standards and our more importantly some of our bulk standards in the plan to make sure the project comports with it. Uh so we'll likely be coming back to the public with some amendments to the plan uh which will go through the usual ordinance
process and introduction referral to the planning board and then back to uh public hearing and then a vote to forward council. So just in terms of there's more I guess I'm trying to say while it's exciting to be at this point. We've got quite a bit of process ahead
of us. Um and that was not my fault. Sorry. Um, fortunately it's my last live and I'll see if we can get there's more mics in there. So
>> got one battery. >> Maybe we have to toggle to >> Hey, redundancy. Um, oh, by the way, Dennis. >> Yep, >> here it was. >> Oh, there it is.
Um, so and then on an ongoing basis, like this is just the work isn't done. Uh, we're waiting on I I didn't mention this earlier, I meant to. Um, it's my understanding that that the classic cleaners property 125 rarit has at least
started a remedial investigation, which is kind of the next step to identify the full extent and cost of the contamination from the dry cleaning products. I'm not going to try to tell you what the chemical compounds are, but I have it in my bag if anybody's cured.
Um, and then we're going to continue our negotiations with that property owner to see if we can find a good uh agreement because but if we need to, we we have the condemnation avenue we can explore that's in the toolkit. And then we'll be negotiating a redevelopment agreement
and financial agreement with our development partner. Um, and all of those things have role we'll be bringing back to the public in in council meetings moving forward. So, we have a ways to go, but it's just really really exciting to get
to this point. I know De and I have been excited. We've been ready for this meeting for a while. And um, and so with that, I'm really excited to invite Deb Tanith up so that you can meet her and her team as well. I'll let you introduce
your team when you're ready. Hi everyone. I'm De and I don't have a lot of fancy slides because the real slides are really about the project. Um but I I do want to just say a few things. Um, first of all, I
just saw my entire adult life on that screen because in 2003 I was sitting in a construction trailer on 18 building Highlands of Plaza Square in New Brunswick. Um, and so that slide was really
I don't even know the word, but the fact that one I just want to say this as a developer who works around the state, this burrow is incredible. Okay. That your administration has such a cohesive vision. For 20
years, you have all worked together on a cohesive vision that is not just driven by leadership. It is based on what is right for this community and input from the community. Um, and it's really it's special. It's really really special
because the the the ingredients of Highland Park being this really quaint dynamic suburban downtown and having this urban light feel to it and just being proximate to New Brunswick and and just where you are in the county.
There's so many variables surrounding the town, but your but your community itself has so much character. Um, and it's really unique that over decades, elected officials at every level of
leadership have been able to thread that needle and and breathe that character. Um, so I'm Deb. I'm a multif family mixeduse developer. Um, I happen to wear a bunch of other hats. I'm the chair of the New Jersey Builders Association, which represents the entire home
building industry in the state. Um, I'm involved with a number of charities and I know some of you guys from other charitable work. Um, Terry and I go way back. I'm on the board of downtown New Jersey. Terry's former life at at New Jersey Future and she was a shared um
director with us at Downtown New Jersey. Um, so when I started working on this, Terry wasn't here. And then when I found out Terry was coming here, I was like, "This is this is great." And so I looked at the history of all the work that that the burrow has put in and all I could think of was like we've been married for
for a long time. >> Um I hope some of your marriages are were lucrative at the end of the day. But um we've we've really worked together hand in hand for the last 10 years. Um the first interaction I had
formally with the burrow was a walk around the downtown. It was a walk with Phil. It was a walk with former mayor Mitler and a handful of people on the redevelopment agency and it was Deb, you understand downtown mixed juice. You understand transit oriented development.
You understand downtowns. Talk to us. What do you see? What should we be doing? What are our challenges? Help us. Help us. Help us figure out. And we had a very honest conversation. you have a lot of narrow, deep, individually owned private properties
and that's a big hurdle for for an individual developer to take on and have to try to assemble all of those pieces. And so knowing that there's a partner on the public side at the table to help facilitate those conversations, those transactions was a big piece of the puzzle. We brainstormed a lot knowing we
had environmental issues and collectively came up and said great let's go to the state and get free money from the state instead of burying this project in more and more debt. Um and that was a collective effort that was a collective idea and brainstorm with your
former your former environmental consultant who now happens to be my environmental consultant. Um and and we did a lot of work together long term long-term vision planning. Um and and
it's paying off. Okay. Um and and it gave me the time over the last 10 years to really learn the community again. I'm a Ruckers grad. I learned how to do yoga in Highland Park. I used to come hang out in Highland Park to eat all the time. Um but to come back as a working
professional adult and see it in its maturity from from my mature perspective now um has really given me a a a true understanding I think of of of what your community is about um and how we fit into that. And so there was nothing more upsetting for me as a as a developer to
drive into this gateway entrance into this magnificent community and see a bunch of holes and and boarded up sometimes overpop populated with cars auto body shops right at your entrance. Um and so we we from the beginning
talked about how do we make this this extraordinary gateway entrance into our our town. Um as I said I work all over the state. I work on all different scale projects. Um Nancy Daryy from Studio 1200 and her team who's here tonight um Kayla and
Annie, we've worked together many years um on a variety of projects. I I'm not going to take you through a whole bunch of things that I've done. I will just be remiss if I did not mention one of my favorite projects, which is a an affordable housing veteran housing project that Nancy and I did um in
downtown Jersey City. Um that has this most magnificent mural of the Tuskegee Airman on it. It's it's it really stops you in your tracks. Um, and I bring it up a because of just the history of our working relationship, but every town is
unique. Every project needs to fit um its shape, its scale, its purpose, its end users. Um, and yes, there are formulas and there are there are variables that that have to be consistent throughout, but but every town has its own personality. Um, and so
what you'll see as Nancy takes us through the presentation of the actual design is we spent a lot of time approaching this project. And I do want to commend Chris. I did get to say hi to you before we started, but I we were very aware starting this design this
time around from an elevation perspective. We knew we knew that product diversity was important, right? We knew we needed a variety of of of product type. onebedroom, two-bedroom, threebedroom, market rate, affordable, you'll see the project has has a handful
of of duplex uh units in it as well. Product diversity leads to more housing affordability, market rate, deed restricted, I don't care. Product diversity and more product leads to more affordability. And so, we knew that we had that recipe that that that was a win. Um, we knew we
wanted the the balance of the amenitized building for for the end users and the residents and the balance of of open space within our building for the residents to take part of and and be able to create a sense of community within the building itself. But we knew
we were dealing with a really long block, really, really long. This is like north of 400 ft long. And so from the beginning, we were always very focused on how do we create this amazing experience and this amazing entrance into town, but how do we do it in a way
that it's really kind of digestible and broken down and and at a human scale where you don't feel like you're driving into this massive bulk. Um, and so we really spent a lot of time with Chris and Terry finessing
and pushing and pulling the different elements of the building to to to make it different shapes and sizes and create different shadow lines and use different materials and and create something interesting that both athletes aesthetically and architecturally was
was pleasing but but also fit into into its surrounding context. We have a wonderful relationship with the developer of Traxxy. So, we were also very aware that there's a really dense project coming in diagonally across the street. And so, how do we complement that, right? All tides need to rise. And
so, where where are we similar? Where are we different? Where do we look alike? Where do we distinguish ourselves? Um, and how do we play off of each other? Right? And so, um, I think a lot of that approach of what's right for the site, this is a very challenging
site. It's very long and it also slopes like this. Okay. And so how do you do that? How do you design a multif family building with ground flooror retail and structured parking that has an insane amount of environmental contamination
and remediation issues with it? How do you do that in the heart of your downtown and design something that's good-looking and handsome and and active? And how do you park it? And how do you load residents moving in and out who's got a truck sitting on the street
for four hours, right? And so the benefit of the grade change between Raran and Dennis and HP Rarden became a really fundamental drive in how we approached the design. So Nancy, I'll take you through later, but we were able to really hide this massive parking
garage. There's there's two stories of concrete of parking. It's a lot of parking. There's almost 200 to 191 spaces, I think, is the actual number. It's a lot of parking. You don't see it. You know it's there, but you don't see it because all the activity of the day-to-day operations associated with
that is going to happen behind everything and and hidden from the hidden from the main daily activity and hidden from your main corridor of traffic. Um there will be, you know, and and we'll speak to a little bit later. There will be obviously some some operational
um uses associated with the retail because the retail retail spaces the tenants have to have to function efficiently. They've got to thrive. Um but we were able to really take a lot of that core operational use and and and screen it. Um and so that factored into
a lot of the design. Building two levels of structured parking is complicated. It's challenging from a building code perspective. it's very costly. Um, and so those were all part of the conversations with the burrow on how do we do this together to make sure that it
looks good, it's going to operate good, the rest of the community can operate, and we're all going to be able to afford this and do this together. And so I I really want to also commend the team at McMan Scotland um for always being a guiding voice in all the redevelopment
tools available. You guys as a community, as an administration are very adept, far more than any than many other municipalities. But I really also commend you on the professional teams that you bring in, third party, because this is complicated stuff and there's a lot of tools out there. Um, but it's
complicated and and and it's a team it's a team process. Um, you know, everybody has to win and for everybody to win, everybody's got to lose a little bit. Um, but we're in it together and if we're not in it together, nobody wins. and and none of this ever gets done. Um, I I also really want to commend Terry
spoke about the the relocation uh of Uber. That was really one of the most complicated transactions I've I've done. Um, for a 3,000 foot business. Um, and Donald's a wonderful guy. He's
enjoying his new space. He's doing really well. I'm very proud of how the renovation came out. I will tell you, I'd much rather build new any day of the week than renovate. Um, but that was a really earnest process that took a lot of teamwork. Um, and I think that it it
speaks to the commitment that this administration has, but I also really would like to thank the administration for the confidence that you've had in me to stick with me for 10 years and we still don't have anything built. I mean, that that I think that says a lot of the relationship. I don't know if that says a lot about me and my delivery, but but
I you know, we're in this together. Um, I'm going to stop talking because I could talk a lot. you'll have time with me in the back. I'm very excited for Nancy to to kind of walk you through the the process of our design and what this will look and feel like. Um, she's one
of my favorite architects. I'm sure there's others in the room, but I really I really admire her her approach to design and the collaborative process that is how we get to a comprehensive design together because one of the things you'll hear from her is
architecture is contextual. Um, and when we're dealing with a surrounding context of an existing block that has a lot of holes in it, how how do you find that context and how do you find how do you find that beacon to guide what it's supposed to be? And I think a lot of
that what is it supposed to be came through from the administration and your professionals, but really understanding what makes this town tick. Um, and so with that, I'd like to bring Nancy up because we've got some great images to walk you through. Uh, and then you'll have a bunch of questions and then we're
gonna we're gonna mobilize. Um, so I thank you again. I look forward to talking with you after and um get ready. Um, good evening everybody. Uh, thank you Deb, thank you Terry. Um, thank you to the council people and everybody who
has uh, helped to get us to this point. Um, I know Chris is here somewhere. We've had uh fabulous, I would say, conversations as we've started to work on the process. So, and Deb and I, as she said, have been working together for a long time. Um, and working on the
Veterans Housing Project was a real honor for us. It's a fabulous project. So, um, I am Nancy Dy, principal at Studio 1200. Um, we are a New Jersey firm. We focus on downtown projects, redevelopment, uh, multifamily housing,
mixed juice projects. Um, I have two of my teammates here, uh, Annie and Kayla. So, uh, super proud to be here. Um, and being part of Deb's redevelopment team. So, uh, Deb is really animated when she
speaks, so it's it's a tough act to follow behind her, but >> she see me when I'm angry. >> Uhhuh. Yes. We don't want that. Um anyway, so just to get us going, um you know, as Terry, I'm not going to go through this in detail because Terry covered this so well. You know, we have
a series of nine lots that make up this tract A and they're in various stages of sort of their um uh rebirth as part of this tract A assemblage. So um there they are. Um what we do, and again, I'm
not going to go through those because you know all about them. So I would really like to start um talking to you about the history and this is what we do when we start any project is really looking at history. So um I am from New
Jersey born and raised here a little bit north of here but um I love history. I think that it informs everything that we do when we work as a design firm. So we started with this map which is actually the map of New Brunswick from 1910 and
highlighted for you um track A is in that red circle there. Um and again I think you all know you know this is the bridge that comes across um that comes onto Ritan Avenue and then this is the other bridge that was originally you know where the where the trains come
across. Um, so I mean I think that this, you know, I want to talk just a little bit about this site and how uh Ritton Avenue developed. So, um, as I understand it, around 1685, that section of, um, let me get my
little, you know, the section that brings you across, that was 1695, 1685 is when the road went in there. And at that time, there was a ferry that took you across to New Brunswick. So there was no bridge there at that time. Um in
1795 the long and commodious bridge I loved that expression was built. So the bridge that now takes you across to New Brunswick was the first version of that was built in 1795. Um and that you know that's when that
steep cut went in down at the bottom of Ritin um up to Adelaide's um on up to Adelaide Avenue. Um, from from then on, you know, Raritan Avenue created this important gateway that Deb was talking about that brings you into Highland
Park, you know, from New Brunswick across the river. And then by 1905, also just interesting, that is when that bridge went in. So, uh, the Pennsylvania Railroad built that bridge. Um, you know, and it was quite an undertaking with all of the sort of arches that
bring it across, uh, the Ritan River. And so as soon as that bridge went in, you know, industry in Highland Park, there, as you well know, um there are many, many industries that were able to sort of exist in Highland Park at the beginning of the 20th century due to
having this transportation that got you here. Um a few of those places I as I learned in my research were the Waldron Machine Company, the two breweries, the Highland Park and New Brunswick Breweries, important in every community, right? um the Jane and Carpenter
wallpaper um uh facility, the Highland Park Needle Works, and you know, early facilities for Johnson and Johnson were also here. Um as the town became more populated and became uh you know more of
a a suburban town as the 20th century progressed, um let me just get myself going here. Um, Raritton Avenue became a robust thoroughfare and had all different kinds of styles, heights, and uses that were introduced as the 20th
century um sort of move development along. And you know, I this is one of this is pretty interesting to me. So, that is the apartment building on Fifth the corner of Fifth Avenue and Riden that is still there today. Um, some of these other buildings are not there as
has been talked about. you've got sort of these gaps in the downtown which didn't always exist but as things have progressed um you've ended up with some gaps um in the the frontage on Riden.
So today, um, and I think we've seen some of these images already, you know, you have a combination of types of buildings. Uh, you have two-story buildings, you know, brick, old, some residential properties. The the apartment building that's on the corner of Ritan and Fifth is still there, that
Oonia apartment building. Um, and the original firehouse, which is still there, you know, right, um, on the end, um, Second Avenue and Ritin. And so there's a a wide range of uses that's going on on Raritin, but uh vacant lots,
it's sort of created a bit of a disjointed experience, we could say. Um so we began our conversation with the town and the professionals sort of contemplating how to design track A for pedestrian scale, right? That was really
important. Um and how to break the massing down the length of this site. Deb has already said, we've got 400 plus feet of frontage that we're dealing with and and really keeping top of mind the planning goals that were set out by your redevelopment plan, which Terry has talked about. Um, that had to do with
revitalization and how do we take this suburban community, but also that has sort of a small urban scale to it in some aspects. and how do we work all of that together to create a dynamic project that is also viable that Deb can build um and that makes sense for
Highland Park. So that is sort of where we started. Um Deb and I have been looking at this site together for 10 years. Um so I worked on the early version with Deb and also on sort of this more recent version. Um the other thing is that we were
really looking at how do we uh relate to track the track C and what's going on there. So we have looked at that plan you know we we as Deb said we uh she in particular has a close relationship with that developer. So really understanding
how the two projects relate. Um so sort of starting you know we wanted to start this with um giving you a stroll down Raritin and as we've said it really is about breaking the scale down. So this is maybe the reverse of the way
you would see a project but we thought this is really the way to start. So the bottom of this slide you'll see there's a series of what we call inspirational images and in conjunction with Terry um and Chris and Deb and the team we started talking about what would make
sense on uh Raritan Avenue. So this would be the the and we're going to look at each of these pieces as you as we go along here starting on the west side closest to um the river and then moving east up towards Second Avenue. So, we
envision this uh streetscape as a series of successful downtown building types um that would create unique moments as you stroll from one end of the the site to the other. Uh the building is five stories along Riden and we've introduced
a variety of setbacks and stepdowns um to reduce the scale and to highlight elements I'm going to show you. We've got terraces. Uh we've got, you know, different elements that are sort of unique to each section of the project as we go along. Um so, and as you can see
just in this, uh we've incorporated a combination of materials. So, we have brick. Uh we have some sections that will have paneling. Um we have different sort of tones of brick and very purposeful so that we can create a rhythm on Ritan. So let's let's take a
walk along and see uh sort of how it goes from one section to the next. So I want to start on the west side again. Imagine that you're coming up sort of the steep slope from the Ritan River from the New Brunswick side. So the the first element that we worked on is um
what we're calling these corner town houses or duplex apartments. So as you look at this um you can see here we're really talking about this section right here. This has been designed as these are duplex apartments. So they're two
floors. You can see um that there's sort of a light uh soft tone of brick for these duplexes. I will point out that there is a terrace up here. So the third floor apartment sets back from the second floor. So third and fourth
stories set back. And then there's a much deeper setback on the fifth floor sort of off of Raritin but also to the west. And there's outdoor uh space on that top floor. So in both directions sort of moving back on the site and then
also as we move along Ritton the the footprint of the building is modulated and to give us this these different experiences. Um so that's that's the first piece the corner town houses. Then when we get we go a little bit further
east um now we're at the section that we're calling sort of box phase over classic storefront. And this for us was sort of a rowhouse model. And you will see on the um oh I've lost the fun. There we go. Here we go. Um so on the
ground floor it was really important that we activate the pedestrian experience. So on a slower level these were a couple of our inspirational images. Uh down here would be where the residential amenity spaces are. Um and but with storefront and sort of classic
storefront. So the scale is broken down. It's just not one enormous long vista of of glass. It's got, you know, sort of some peers. It has a different materiality than what's above it. And then above it, uh, you're seeing sort of classic downtown, um, elevation that
has, uh, peer bays, excuse me, that would be, um, in with panels, sort of box bays. And then in between there is brick and and you know, that sort of differentiates from one apartment to the next. On this section of it, we also
have a set back here. So the darker element on the top floor is where the amenity space would be and then to the right of that there are more apartments on the fifth fifth floor. But you'll see when we get to the plans they're set pretty far back and there are terraces
up there. So that was the the second section um where we have those box bays here. Um as we Oops, hold on. As we keep going when we get to the next the center
of the property and it is pretty much the midpoint of that 400 foot length of the project is really the arrival. And so it was really important that we make something something special in the in this middle portion. So if you see um
down in this image, this is actually now a threetory element. Um, it would be that same light brick that we have at the town houses on the western end of the project. We have some soft curves here, those very typical of earliest
20th century apartment buildings. Um, and then an entrance. It was important that we have a canopy that is recognizable um, and sort of distinctive in the middle of the project. So, this would be the main entrance into the residential units. Um, and also how you
get to the vertical circulation. As Deb said, you're not seeing anything that has anything to do with parking. We have one curb cut on the on the property on Raritin. So, um really working on what the the street view, the pedestrian view
uh would feel like. Street trees, which you're seeing and we'll talk about later that go all the way along here. Um so that is the central sort of arrival uh element. Then the next element as we move east uh is really kind of what I
would consider the the classic um apartment building. And it in this section as we're on the eastern end of the site um down here we would have this will be a combination of uh sort of the leasing office for the building and then
retail. So sort of classic architectural awnings, the flexibility in this retail space. So could be a combination of any number of different retail elements that could be there for this portion of the building. Um sort of similar to that
apartment building uh on the corner of Fifth Avenue. It would be a combination of brickop. I cheated. Sorry about that. Um so it it's really brick. It would have peers. It would have some um sort of uh
detailing at the top of the first story and at the top of the fourth story, which is very classic in downtown apartment buildings. A nice uh sort of cornice detail up at the top of the fifth floor. Again, you're seeing the street trees. I think uh Chris, we
talked about street trees every 30 feet at, you know, sort of the most. So, creating a nice rhythm of uh streetscape as you go along. Um, and then finally, we're calling this our corner moment. So, this is all the
way at the eastern end of the the site. And this was our element where we wanted to have um I would call it a bit of fun. We wanted something that would talk to the project on track C, but a different interpretation. So, as you see this um
you know, we were using some of these inspirational images. the building actually and you'll see when I show you the three-dimensional image of it, it sets back on the third floor and above um right here and down here we were able to create um sort of a moment where
we'll have some sort of decorative panel. This is actually right now inspired by your town logo and what you see when you come into Highland Park as you're coming up at that corner of Adelaide um Avenue. And uh again there
will be um retail space that will be here on the first floor. And then above here, this is an apartment up here with a terrace. And the building steps back. We were very conscious that on this end of the building, you're at the eastern end of the site. Um in this direction,
we have Second Avenue. We have some single family homes over there. And so really again, Chris, I think, and Terry really pushed us on setting the scale of the building down on that end and and thinking very carefully about that. So,
we're pretty excited about what um will be happening on this east end of the the project. So, sort of putting that all together, I know you're all familiar with this image. This is we are now looking as we're coming up the hill. Um, we're at
South First Avenue there. You're all familiar with the book with the building on the left. And as you're also well aware, that's kind of your streetscape right now. So, um, these buildings, you know, they're either set back or they're not there and they're they're fairly
nondescript. And I would say the scale, right? It, you know, there there's there's not a lot of scale or presence um, from this vantage point. Um so as we look now um this is what we're envisioning. So I want to sort of step
through it with you so that you can understand and I I think we feel like it is a really pretty exciting um vista as you're coming up Raritin and is providing this this rhythm and this cadence that we talked about. You can
now see how the building steps. Um so right here are the town houses on the west end of the site. So that sort of soft brick would be those two-story town houses. You start to see that's the terrace. Um on the third floor for those third floor apartments, the building
steps back from these town houses in this direction. And then when you get to the top of the fourth floor, it steps back. This is the step step back that I was talking about in both directions. You're just getting a glimpse of the amenity space on the fifth floor. Um,
and then beyond that, you can see these are the uh sort of more rowhouse model with the bays that alternate between the box bays and the brick with the retail. So, this would be the first floor amenity sort of retail space here. And
then in the middle you're seeing that's a three-story portion, the one that I talked about with the curved uh windows at the top. And this is where the entrance to the building would be. Unfortunately, it's a little bit shielded by those wind those trees, but we thought it was important that you see actually what the streetscape would feel
like. You c you can see here there's uh the there's, you know, sort of variation in the sidewalk. Um and then when you get past there, the five-story portion of the building, the brick building, um that has the retail space uh all the way along the first floor. And what you
can't see is the eastern most portion that would that has that step back because that is intentionally stepped back. And again to relate to track C, which you know is going to be sort of down here where I've got my uh pointer just over there on the right is the
beginning of of the track C project. Um and so that's our sort of vision for the project as you're looking east on um Raritin. If I go in the other direction, again, I know you're all familiar with this. This is starting at Second Avenue. So, all
the way on the right, you're just catching a glimpse of the original firehouse in town. Um, you know, which has been uh faithfully, I would say, loved and restored, it seems like, over over time. Um, next to it is the building which I understand was added on
to and apartments were added to that um building expanded and added on to in the recent past and you know looks great um where it is right now on as part of the streetscape. Um everything past that
you're not seeing much right um sort of what's here on that side of the street. So as we um now look at the vision of the building going in this direction. Um this is what you would see. And so I'm going to start here. Um so this is what
I was talking about. The building has been angled back here. There is a portion where we have a balcony here. And then there's further stepbacks. Um when I show you the plan, you'll be able to see that there are stepbacks on the top floor um on on this side of the
building as you're facing towards Second Avenue. As you go down the block here, you're seeing all of these awnings, which would be the retail space. So, you know, a really, I think, um, enjoyable retail pedestrian experience along Raritin. Uh, it's again a little bit
hard to see, but this portion in the middle that would have the soft brick is the main entrance. Um, and that is set back, you know, a distance from the this portion of the building. And then in the far distance you see the the uh sort of townhouse version um with the three
stories of apartments on top of the amenity space uh retail area and finally the townhouse portion all the way down at the end. And again just uh uh mentioning the materials again. The idea was that the the two-story townhouse uh
the three-story entrance and this portion on the east end of the site would have that sort of soft brick and then and then be modulated with the the deeper red brick that's very classic for downtowns and and many of your buildings downtown have some version of red brick.
Um Deb had mentioned there is a service alley. So that's what's in here uh in between this building and the start of our building. And so that's where trash and you know all the necessary things you need to make a building work. That's where that would be happening. Um
>> just >> what? >> Just for the retail. >> Just for the retail. Sorry. Yes. Thank you. Um right. The rest of the trash happened somewhere else which I'll show you in the plans. Um okay. So now just to give you a little bit of an overview from the
plans. We'll go through these uh fairly quickly, but this is an overhead uh sort of roof plan of the project. Uh what you see in dark gray is uh the top of the fifthstory roof. Um the beige color that sort of wraps around here, those are the
fifth floor terraces. And anything that is, you never know what color it's going to be on the screen, but whatever color you want to call that, light gray or light green, those are terraces that are on lower floors. Um so you can also see in this um as I mentioned the footprint
of the building goes in and out um along uh Ritton. Now I'm going to start at the bottom of the building and just give you a little bit of an overview of how that works. So as Deb mentioned we have a a a very steep slope um between Raritin and
Dennis. The advantage is that we can do two stories of parking. The disadvantage is it's extraordinarily expensive to do it, but what you're seeing here is the lower level um with access off of Denison. So, uh the the intention is that you would
come in off of Denison and the parking would be down here. As Deb said, we have 191 parking spaces. I think 26 of them are on this lower level. So, this will all be resident residential
parking. So, one space per um apartment on this lower level and all the kind of necessary things that you need, trash, recycling, you know, etc. will be located down here. Um on the lower level of parking, there is a ramp. So, if
you're going up to the upper level of parking, you would um come in here and this will bring you up to the the ground floor and the parking on that level. Um so now if we go up to the ground level
uh this you get a better visual now. These are the four duplex town houses that are on the westand side of the site. Um and they will run all the way sort of front to back from Ritton back to Dennis on this side of the building.
As you move along here, this is the uh sort of lobby and amenity space that I showed you with that kind of dark storefront that has um you know, some nice column details and and uh sort of window modulation. So, this is the where
you see the arrow is the main entrance to the building. You know, elevators, stairs, etc. So, this is where you would come into the residential portion of the building. The leasing office is intended to be uh just off of that. And then finally, all of that retail space that I
talked about is uh on this end of the building. This shows you this is where the ramp brings you up to the ground floor. And this parking would be a combination for um the residential tenants and also for retail um on this on this floor.
As we go up to the second uh story, um this is showing you again this is the second floor of the townhouse uh duplex units over here. the four of those and then everything you see in blue is apartments. As Deb said, it's a combination of one, two, and threebedroom apartments. And these two
are