Kushner, City Officials Salvage Redevelopment Deal

PERTH AMBOY, NJ-Two weeks ago, city officials tore up a contract with the Florham Park, NJ-based Kushner Cos. under which the latter would redevelop a sizeable portion of Perth Amboy’s waterfront. At stake was a $600 million mixed-use project encompassing residential, retail and entertainment uses. The issues involved payments the developer was supposed to make to the city for several existing properties and sites, and some deadlines the city had imposed.

After a series of closed-door negotiations, Kushner and the city ironed out their differences, and yesterday the city council okayed a new deal. With that approval, the 48-acre Landings at Harborside project is back on track. Besides some slight changes in the financial agreement between the parties, the configuration of the project was tweaked a bit–the retail component has been moved from the north end of the site to the center.”While the city is willing to put the brakes on any project that is not in the best interest of our residents, we are happy to be back on track and proceeding…with our original vision,” according to David Szilagyi, commissioner of the city’s redevelopment agency and a councilman. He made his remarks in a prepared statement.