No Bids Received on Downtown Retail/Parking Plan

A year after it was first proposed, the Chamber of Commerce plan to add new retail space and as many as two parking garages to downtown Ridgewood has been stalled, with the village receiving no bids from interested developers by a deadline earlier this month.

Heather Mailander, the acting village manager, said at the council’s Sept. 11 meeting that two parties picked up the specifications for the project, one of whom the indicated that they may have submitted a bid had they had more time. The bidding for the project opened in July and had a Sept. 5 deadline.

If successful, the project, proposed last year by the Chamber of Commerce, would extend a 70-year lease on a village owned parking lot, adjacent to The Gap on Ridgewood Avenue, to a developer to construct a two-story, 12,000-square foot retail facility.

Rent and taxes on the property would pay for the construction of an 80-space parking garage on Hudson Street, which would sit atop another retail space. If the plan is financially successful, a second parking garage could be constructed at North Walntut and Franklin Avenues.

Mayor Paul Aronsohn suggested that the council “take a step back” and look at the bid specifications, questioning whether they might be too restrictive and whether the request for proposals was advertised adequately.

The Village originally hired Tom Calu LLC to develop the request for proposals at a cost of $9,000. Mailander said that the project could be rebid at minimal cost.