A community in Somerset County could become home to a new apartment complex if a new proposal continues to advance.
The plans for the Riverview at Raritan project call for a four-story building with 70 residential units to be constructed off of Orlando Drive, according to minutes from the Somerset County Planning Board’s December 2020 meeting. A total of 158 parking spaces would be provided on the premises.
The minutes show that the development is being envisioned by Orlando Heights Realty, LLC for a 2.215-acre site just west of an apartment complex that is currently known as The Lena and that the new building would include seven “below-market-rate” apartments.
Property records list Orlando Heights Realty, LLC of Midwood, Brooklyn, as the owner of 48 Orlando Drive, an address that contains structures that were previously used by Zeus Industrial Products.
Two existing buildings would be torn down in order to facilitate the development, according to the minutes.
The file states that James Ruggieri, the principal community planner for the board, “noted that this type of redevelopment project demonstrates that a former industrial property can be successfully remediated and converted into a productive use, which might otherwise have become an eyesore near an existing luxury housing development.”
Raritan is the last stop for most outbound trains on New Jersey Transit’s Raritan Valley Line. Orlando Drive is situated near the Raritan River roughly half a mile south of the station. The borough includes a small business district along West and East Somerset Street and is served by Routes 202 and 206.
