Bids Open for Retail/Parking Garage Plan in Ridgewood

In less than two months, village officials will learn what developers are willing to pay to construct a two-story retail building on East Ridgewood Avenue that would in turn finance a parking garage project.

Pushed by the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce, the plan calls for a developer to agree to a 70-year land lease for the village-owned parking lot between Gilsenan's and The Gap. A two-story retail building at 12,000 square feet would be constructed, with tax revenue and land lease payments financing a bond to build a parking garage on Hudson Street.

The Hudson Street garage project would add 80 parking spots and also include a 4,000 square foot retail facility. The chamber of commerce's initial plan also targeted a second garage to be constructed at the municipal lot on Walnut and Franklin avenues if lease/tax revenue allowed for it. The two parking garages were projected to cost $7,942,000, necessitating an annual $317,680 bond.

However, in the last month, a developer of assisted living facilities proposed to construct a 6-story building that included a parking garage and retail space at the site of the Walnut/Franklin lot.

Bids on the two-story building on East Ridgewood Avenue are due back Sept. 5.