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The Yard @ College Avenue Restaurants Announced

They should buy out that crappy gas station on Easton across from the current location of Hansel. That place was always an eye sore.
Also - there are often undergroud pollution problems with gas stations and mechanics, that I would bet that Wawa would be on the hook for cleaning up if they redeveloped.
 
Also - there are often undergroud pollution problems with gas stations and mechanics, that I would bet that Wawa would be on the hook for cleaning up if they redeveloped.

No. According to NJ Law, the seller would be responsible for cleaning up any enviornmental damage caused.

I stand corrected that Shell doesn't own the property anymore, but I am pretty sure only a Shell gas station can stay there - regardless of owner. At least that was what I was told by real estate agents.
 
perhaps Shell was once the owner, and sold the gas station to the current owner or a past owner, with a covenant to that effect being in the deed. But I wonder what the covenant says: does it say "nothing other than a gas station" or does it say " no kind of gas station except for a Shell." The latter would make sense as a way of protecting Shell's investment from being used by a competitor, which I would think is Shell's primary concern.
 
No. According to NJ Law, the seller would be responsible for cleaning up any enviornmental damage caused.

I stand corrected that Shell doesn't own the property anymore, but I am pretty sure only a Shell gas station can stay there - regardless of owner. At least that was what I was told by real estate agents.
Ah. Maybe the sellers just tend to declare bankruptcy. Gonna be interesting in a couple of decades when electric cars are the norm and you have all of these abandoned gas stations out there on prime corners with a ton of cleanup needed.
 
Ah. Maybe the sellers just tend to declare bankruptcy. Gonna be interesting in a couple of decades when electric cars are the norm and you have all of these abandoned gas stations out there on prime corners with a ton of cleanup needed.
"QUIK-CHARGE. $5 for 15 minutes"
"AUTOBATTERIA BY DURACELL®. A full battery replacement in 15 minutes, GUARANTEED!"
 
I know of gasoline stations in South Jersey that have been converted to other uses, so the clean-up is not impossible. Always keep in mind that groundwater moves very slowly, and so contamination often remains close to the surface and right under the offending land use.

I am looking forward to electric cars, although the manufacturers say they see fuel-cell vehicles as the long-term answer. They think it will be easier to figure out ways to use hydrogen than to have a breakthrough in battery technology. But let's see if they are right. I hope I live long enough to see it.
 
Pretty sure Cofifa explained a while back WaWa is only interested in locations they can have a gas station at this time. That's why they turned down The Yard. A Block & Lot like Korb said would make sense especially with the lack of gas stations in the area.

I wouldn't give up hope on a Wawa without a gas station just yet. They just opened a giant one on Broad and Walnut in Philly and I believe there are more plans for new urban locations.

If New Brunwick increases its density I think we could see one - it would make a killing st Rutgers and would serve a need. When I was in school tons of kids would make Wawa trips to the one on Route 18 in Old Bridge.
 
The new one at Broad and Walnut is a replacement for one that used to be at 16th and Walnut. No doubt Wawa decided that it didn't want to lose the Rittenhouse Square area. The old one used to do a huge amount of business. I am not at all sure that the replacement indicates a change in Wawa's strong desire to have filling stations at its new locations. There would be no way to have such a location in Center City Philadelphia.
 
The new one at Broad and Walnut is a replacement for one that used to be at 16th and Walnut. No doubt Wawa decided that it didn't want to lose the Rittenhouse Square area. The old one used to do a huge amount of business. I am not at all sure that the replacement indicates a change in Wawa's strong desire to have filling stations at its new locations. There would be no way to have such a location in Center City Philadelphia.

This is true but Wawa is making investments in their other Center City Philly locations to keep them up to date. This new flagship one at Broad and Walnut also has indoor seating something not found in the gas station locations.

According to the CEO in this article they have "reevaluated their Center City position".

Not saying it's likely for a New Brunswick location but if the density in the city keeps increasing who knows. Millennials are ditching their cars to live in urban walkable settings so eventually they may reevaluate their gas station only concept for new stores.

A Wawa in the Yard would have been an incredible hit with students.

http://www.phillymag.com/property/2015/04/16/wawa-center-city-philadelphia-renderings-broad-walnut/
 
It's hard for me to conceive of NB becoming as dense as center city Philadelphia -- which, as you know, has a fair amount of townhouse and high-rise apartments in addition to commerce -- but I guess it's possible. Maybe then NB can get a Wawa.
 
It's hard for me to conceive of NB becoming as dense as center city Philadelphia -- which, as you know, has a fair amount of townhouse and high-rise apartments in addition to commerce -- but I guess it's possible. Maybe then NB can get a Wawa.

New Brunswick will obviously never be anywhere as dense is Philly but Wawa may rethink their expansion approach down the road especially as more and more younger people are ditching cars and life in the suburbs for urban living.

New Brunswick still has a ways to go in terms of getting the 23-30 age range to call the city home though.
 
New Brunswick will obviously never be anywhere as dense is Philly but Wawa may rethink their expansion approach down the road especially as more and more younger people are ditching cars and life in the suburbs for urban living.

New Brunswick still has a ways to go in terms of getting the 23-30 age range to call the city home though.

NIRH and I have had this discussion several times. I think that eventually young people will decide to have kids and then they will flee to the suburbs -- it's just too expensive and difficult to raise children in an urban environment.

I have always been surprised that NB can't get 23-30 year olds to call the place home. I guess that demographic doesn't have the income for the high-rises and wants better housing than found in the houses near campus.
 
NIRH and I have had this discussion several times. I think that eventually young people will decide to have kids and then they will flee to the suburbs -- it's just too expensive and difficult to raise children in an urban environment.

I have always been surprised that NB can't get 23-30 year olds to call the place home. I guess that demographic doesn't have the income for the high-rises and wants better housing than found in the houses near campus.

I have been looking for something in downtown NB to buy for 6 months now and everything is in the 450k to 700k range. It's just too much to own a condo in an area without even a supermarket in walking distance. On top of that you can expect to pay $100 to $165 month in parking because you can't walk everywhere in NB. I'm 31 and it isn't looking like downtown NB will be worth it anymore.
 
I have been looking for something in downtown NB to buy for 6 months now and everything is in the 450k to 700k range. It's just too much to own a condo in an area without even a supermarket in walking distance. On top of that you can expect to pay $100 to $165 month in parking because you can't walk everywhere in NB. I'm 31 and it isn't looking like downtown NB will be worth it anymore.

The condos across from Scarlet Fever are no where near that expensive.
 
"QUIK-CHARGE. $5 for 15 minutes"
"AUTOBATTERIA BY DURACELL®. A full battery replacement in 15 minutes, GUARANTEED!"
Doesnt work when everyone is charging their cars at home and work. There will be stations, especially near long haul highways - but not nearly as many.

camden - yes and no. Its not that difficult to raise a kid in an urban environment - in many ways its easier. more playgrounds. Closer schools. More transit when they are old enough. Kids in NYC presumably just take the train to their music lesson, instead of needing mom and dad to drive. The real concern is the schools - an intractable problem in many ways.

But what will really keep them out is expense. When you are in your 20s you can live in a one bedroom or shared apartment. When you have kids, its hard, and expensive, and suburban real estate is going to be dirt cheap once Boomers start dying off and moving out en masse. As with many assets, there is going to be a fire sale soon enough.
 
Finally some updated renderings!

lot-8.jpg

Lot-8-court-yard-3.jpg

Lot-8-court-yard-2.jpg
 
"QUIK-CHARGE. $5 for 15 minutes"
"AUTOBATTERIA BY DURACELL®. A full battery replacement in 15 minutes, GUARANTEED!"

From link:

"As EVs have grown in popularity, businesses and governments are scrambling to meet the power demands of green vehicle owners and support a state goal to have 1.5 million zero-emission cars on California roads by 2025. In some spots, demand for charging stations has outstripped supply.

That demand has sparked competition at stations and among businesses looking for a position in a growing market. And no one seems to think there's a good solution in sight."
 
The Olive Branch will have the game and the univ has been promoting that on social media. Not technically "on campus" but basically the same. I'd hope that they would be setting it up elsewhere on campus too.
 
From link:

"As EVs have grown in popularity, businesses and governments are scrambling to meet the power demands of green vehicle owners and support a state goal to have 1.5 million zero-emission cars on California roads by 2025. In some spots, demand for charging stations has outstripped supply.

That demand has sparked competition at stations and among businesses looking for a position in a growing market. And no one seems to think there's a good solution in sight."
The only charging station near me is at a Walgreens. Which seems like the worst place for it. I mean I can see the mall, or a supermarket, or the movies. But who goes into a Walgreens for more than 10 minutes?
 
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The only charging station near me is at a Walgreens. Which seems like the worst place for it. I mean I can see the mall, or a supermarket, or the movies. But who goes into a Walgreens for more than 10 minutes?

The stations options are growing. My brother has a Tesla and he's driven from Houston to Maine hitting spots along the way no problem. Mostly he used the superchargers along the interstates but he also stayed at a B&B specifically because they put one in. Right now they are great marketing tools for the right places - b&bs, high end shopping areas, restaurants, etc...because if you're driving a Tesla you've got some disposable income.

If the electric car truly takes over there won't be a need for station-like charging facilities like there is with gas. The good thing about chargers is that they can be anywhere - even a Walgreens. But I agree a very odd place for one.
 
I understand that in California the supply of electric charging stations is so insufficient that drivers have been known to get into fistfights. So we need more stations. Putting them at, say, a Walgreen's makes sense from the business's point of view -- perhaps it believes that having a charging station will encourage customers to stay longer. But of course we need variety in the locations in which stations exist.
 
good observation RUSeaweed31. It became very expensive to put the screen on top of the Starbucks because we ended up overbuilding the entire starbucks structure. Fortunantely the new location with independent structure is now located to maximize best visual sight lines for the greatest audience on the lawn
 
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...on the lawn

So now it's just a lawn and not a "yard'? What the hell...lol

(just kidding - it looks very impressive)

And is the screen angled towards Hamilton or parallel to Union/College Ave.? How will it work for sun?
 
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