The Asbury Park City Council recently voted to approve a financial agreement for a redevelopment project at the corner of Memorial Drive and Springwood Avenue, near the city’s train station.
The project, which will be headed by Memorial Avenue Holdings Urban Renewal LLC, will deliver 92 apartments, nearly 12,000 square feet of commercial space, and a parking structure with 107 spaces on a 1.13-acre site. The ordinance states that 19 units in the new building will be set aside for affordable housing.
The building will span four stories and include 21 studios, 26 one-bedroom units, 41 two-bedroom units, and 4 three-bedroom units. Some of the units will include balconies abutting two common terraces on the second floor. The ground floor will be mostly parking, but it will also include 4,000 square feet of retail space at the intersection of Springwood Avenue and Memorial Drive, as well as along Memorial Drive.
An additional 7,248 square feet of office space will be located on the second floor of the building, including 2,970 square feet of amenity space and two outdoor terraces totaling over 1,640 square feet. The building will also include a rooftop deck fronting Springwood Avenue, spanning 3,445 square feet.
Members of the City Council voted to adopt the ordinance for the financial agreement on February 25. The agreement stipulates that the LLC will make service payments on a quarterly basis according to the following schedule:
– Between years 1 through 5, the annual service charge is 10% of the annual gross revenue.
– Between years 6 and 9, it will be 10.5%.
– For years 10 through 14, the annual service charge will be the greater of 12% of the annual gross revenue or 20% of the amount of taxes due from the value of the land and improvements.
– For years 15 through 19, the annual service charge will be the greater of 13% of the annual gross revenue of the project or 40% of the taxes due from land and improvements.
– For years 20 through 24, the service charge will be the greater of 13.5% of the gross revenue or 60% of the taxes due from land and improvements.
– For years 25 through 28, the annual service charge will be the greater of 14% of the gross annual revenue or 80% of the amount of taxes due from land and improvements.
– For years 29 through 30, the annual service charge will be the greater of 14.5% of the gross revenue or 80% of the amount of taxes due.
An additional administrative fee equivalent to 2% of the annual service charge will be added for each year the agreement is in effect.
Memorial Avenue Holdings Urban Renewal, according to the PILOT application, is owned by two individuals (Heshy Eissenberg and Jacob Lipschitz) and a limited liability company (LI Management LLC) based in Lakewood.
Dave Clark, the city’s redevelopment counsel, provided a brief overview of the project during the meeting at which the ordinance was adopted. He explained that the affordable housing component will include three levels of affordability, but he did not provide additional information on the specific level of affordability for each.
A single resident who submitted a public comment questioned how long the city would continue to grant PILOTs, but no other members of the public submitted comments on the ordinance. Council Member Angela Abhez-Anderson was the only vote against the legislation, which passed 4-1.
Jersey Digs previously reported that the city planning board reviewed the project application in 2022. That proposal required two variances and went before the board on April 18, 2022, but the board did not approve the application until November 2022.
The financial agreement for the redevelopment of the four parcels comprising the site marks a significant milestone for the city. One of the properties, located along Memorial Drive, served as the home of the People’s Ice & Coal Co. and was a state-of-the-art facility when it opened in 1932, but the two buildings have been empty for at least 25 years. The property was also the site of a 2017 fire that damaged the structure.
The building sits one block from the Asbury Park NJ Transit Station, next to a strip mall, near the Lincoln Village and Boston Way Village apartments, and six blocks from the beach.
