Rahway Approves $2.57M Purchase of Former Church Site for Amphitheater
The Redevelopment Agency voted unanimously on Thursday to move forward with the purchase from a Linden-based developer. A resident raised questions about the accuracy of the appraisal at the meeting.
The two Hamilton Street properties, 277 and 309 Hamilton Street, that the Rahway Redevelopment Agency is seeking to purchase for $2.57 million as the proposed site of the James “Jim” Kennedy Amphitheater. (Images: Google Street View)
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Chris Howell | May 27, 2026 ***Updated: May 29, 2026***
The Rahway Redevelopment Agency voted unanimously on Thursday to approve a $2.57 million purchase agreement for the two Hamilton Street properties at the center of Mayor Raymond Giacobbe’s proposed outdoor amphitheater in the city’s downtown Arts District. The vote came after last week’s meeting fell apart when not enough board members showed up.
The agency approved a purchase-and-sale agreement with Meridia on Hamilton Rahway, LLC, an entity of Linden-based Capodagli Property Company. The agreement locks in the price and gives the agency a window to inspect the properties at 277 and 309 Hamilton Street before committing to a closing date.
The agreement also allows the agency to assign the contract directly to the City of Rahway and a full deposit refund if the agency walks away during the due diligence period.
Before the vote, Executive Director Robert Landolfi walked commissioners through the acquisition in detail, addressing what he called a significant amount of misinformation circulating online about the transaction.
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Landolfi said the acquisition is being carried out on behalf of the city, not the agency acting alone, and that Union County has agreed in principle to cover 100 percent of the acquisition cost through its open space trust fund. “In effect, we were acting not only on behalf of the city, but the town,” he said.
He said the city was prepared to use eminent domain if necessary from the outset of negotiations, and that the seller understood that from day one. Under New Jersey condemnation law, he explained, the city is required to obtain appraisals and base any acquisition on appraised market value — not on prior sale prices, which he said are legally irrelevant to the process. “The appraisal speaks for itself,” he said. “Nobody disputes that.”
Landolfi said the appraisals had been made available publicly and that the transaction had been fully transparent. A closed session that had been planned for the meeting was canceled, he noted, because contract negotiations had already been resolved.
The city council authorized the borrowing in April through a bond ordinance that approved up to $2.75 million for the acquisition. The agreed purchase price falls roughly $180,000 below that ceiling. City officials have not said publicly how the remaining authorized funds would be used, though transaction costs, legal fees, and environmental work on the properties are likely considerations.
Candidates and officials gather for a photo following the Rahway NAACP candidates forum at the Rahway Public Library. The candidates were asked about redevelopment costs during the forum. (The Central Jerseyan)
Appraisals obtained by The Central Jerseyan through a public records request show the two properties were independently valued at a combined $2.62 million as of December 2025, meaning the agreed purchase price of $2.57 million falls roughly $50,000 below the appraised value. Both appraisals were prepared by McNerney & Associates of Glen Rock and commissioned by Landolfi.
During the public comment period, Alan Levy, a Rahway resident who is running for city council as a Republican and has an active civil lawsuit alleging Open Public Meetings Act violations by city officials — a case in which the ACLU has sought to join on his behalf — challenged the appraisals. Levy said 309 Hamilton Street sold for $430,000 in December 2023, less than two years before the appraisal was conducted. Yet the appraisal states that no transactions occurred at the property in the prior three years. The appraised value of 309 Hamilton Street is $375,000, below the 2023 sale price.
Deed records obtained by The Central Jerseyan from the Union County Clerk confirm the $430,000 sale, but also show a significant detail Levy did not mention. The transaction was executed pursuant to an order of the United States Bankruptcy Court. A bankruptcy sale is a court-supervised, distressed disposition, not a conventional arm’s-length transaction, and appraisers routinely exclude such sales from comparable analysis.
Levy also questioned the appraised value of 277 Hamilton Street, which McNerney & Associates placed at $2.245 million. Deed records show Meridia on Hamilton Rahway LLC purchased that property from St. Mark’s Catholic Church for $475,000 in August 2022, nearly five times less than the appraised value three years later. Levy argued the comparable sales used in the appraisal were not truly comparable to the property. Landolfi said those determinations are the appraiser’s professional judgment, and that condemnation law governs how the city must proceed regardless.
The agency also approved a contract with engineering firm T&M Associates for up to $32,850 to conduct environmental due diligence at both Hamilton Street properties, including preliminary assessments, geophysical surveys, and asbestos identification. A separate contract with planning firm Heyer, Gruel & Associates, valued at up to $6,800, will commission a parking suitability study for a parcel on West Main Street that the city is separately looking to acquire for public art. Landolfi did not elaborate on how the parking study and the art project are connected.
Mayor Giacobbe formally announced the amphitheater project at his State of the City address in February, naming it after James “Jim” Kennedy, the former Rahway mayor who serves in the New Jersey General Assembly. The project is described as a joint initiative with Union County, though no design has been finalized and no construction budget has been made public.
At the NAACP candidates forum last week, Giacobbe offered the most specific figures yet on how the project would be financed. He said Union County will cover 100 percent of the property acquisition cost through its open space trust fund and has committed to paying 50 percent of construction costs. He estimated the total project at roughly $20 million, with the city’s share coming to approximately $5 million — about 25 percent of the total. He described the figures as approximate but said the county commitment is confirmed.
The amphitheater’s cost had already become a flashpoint at that forum, ahead of the June 2 Democratic primary. When an audience member asked incumbents for a cost estimate, none stepped forward immediately. Challenger Andrew Garcia Phillips pointed to the bond ordinance and argued the council had failed to scrutinize the project. Council Vice President Jeremy Mojica, an incumbent, pushed back.
“There is nothing hidden about this project,” he said.
Capodagli Property Company has a significant development history in the city. Its Meridia brand is responsible for a large-scale residential redevelopment project that produced a 298-unit residential building in its first phase. A second phase, calling for 200 additional residential units and commercial space, has been delayed since 2014. The Redevelopment Agency was also set to vote last week on a fourth amendment to that project’s redevelopment agreement, updating the Phase 2 schedule.
The company’s representative on the Hamilton Street transaction is Dennis Liloia, vice president of development and general counsel at Capodagli Property Company. The agency’s counsel on the deal is William W. Northgrave of McManimon, Scotland & Baumann in Roseland.
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***This article was updated to reflect the RRA vote to approve the property purchase agreement.***