New Rooftop New Brunswick Apartment Building Proposed

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — There is a new luxury apartment building proposed for 89 Bayard Street in New Brunswick city center, and changes coming to Hiram Square, an existing high-end town home complex.

What's unique about 89 Bayard Street is the lobby will actually be on the roof: Tenants will take an elevator six stories up to get to it. There will also be a mezzanine gym space on the roof, plus 3,248 square feet of outdoor roof deck space. Parking will be on the ground floor.

New Brunswick is poised to go through a development boom as Gov. Murphy moves the city forward in a radical new plan to house Princeton and Rutgers universities together in a new "technology hub" located just steps away. Read: Princeton, Rutgers, RWJ Housed Under One Roof In New Brunswick (Oct. 14)

What's coming to New Brunswick:

1. First, Hiram Square, the high-end town home community right off the Raritan River, is seeking to turn part of their parking lot into an outdoor grilling area.

The owners of Hiram Square/Riverwatch New Brunswick filed an application this October with the New Brunswick Planning Board to remove 13 parking spaces on the site and create an outdoor amenity space with string lights, fire pit, grilling area and sitting area.

This outdoor space will only be available to use by the residents of Hiram Square; it will be locked and you must have a key to access it. The developer says the 13 parking spaces they seek to remove are in an underutilized section of the parking lot.

It's unclear if the New Brunswick Planning Board will approve the idea, as at least one Planning Board member, John Petrolino, said that it's already very difficult to find parking in the New Brunswick city center on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and that eliminating these 13 parking spaces may force even more people to search for street parking.

2. Secondly, a developer seeks to build a brand-new seven-story apartment complex at 89 Bayard Street. Currently, that lot holds two vacant buildings, which the developer would tear down and construct a new mixed-use building on this site, with retail/office space on the first floor and a total of 45 apartments above.

There will be a ground floor with five residential floors above; the units will be a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units. The top level, shown as the seventh floor, will contain a rooftop elevator lobby and mezzanine gym space, and a 3,248-sf rooftop amenity deck and green roof.

The ground floor will contain structured parking for 13 vehicles and 32 bike parking spaces. There will also be electric car charging stations.

It again remains unknown if the New Brunswick Zoning Board will approve the plan. You can read the proposal for 89 Bayard Street here: https://www.cityofnewbrunswick...

3. Finally, the existing small car wash and gas station at 1200 Somerset Street will be turned into a much bigger car wash. The existing car wash will be demolished in order to construct a new 3,500 square foot car wash with 20 vacuum spaces. The New Brunswick Planning Board has already given a preliminary approval of this plan.

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