A new residential community will be constructed on Cindy Lane, just off of West Park Avenue and Route 35 in suburban Ocean Township. An exact address is not listed for the project. Known as the Ocean Family Apartments, the development is set to include “two three-story garden-style apartment buildings measuring a total of approximately 55,000 square feet,” according to a legal notice from the State of New Jersey.
The wood frame buildings are slated to contain a combined 48 residential rental units, which will consist of nine one-bedrooms, 26 two-bedrooms, 12 three-bedrooms, and one two-bedroom for the superintendent of the complex. County records show that 72 parking spaces for residents will be provided on the site, which, according to the notice, will be Energy Star certified. Laundry facilities, central air conditioning, a community room, and staff offices will also be included.
The property is located at the edge of an industrial park. 3,526 feet of wetlands will have to be permanently filled in order to construct this project, and the notice states that not filling in the wetlands “is not practical given the small size of the property.” A freshwater wetlands permit has reportedly already been issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Land Use Regulation.
This project will be developed by Cindy Lane Family Ventures, LLC, according to Township records, which is registered with the State out of Fort Lee, Bergen County. State records list that the Fort Lee-based company responsible for Ocean Family Apartments is The Alpert Group, a regional affordable housing developer.
The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) announced in the notice that on or around July 31st, it intends to apply to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to use some of the federal funding designated to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) as part of the Community Development Block Grant Program under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013. The act was signed by President Barack Obama in January of that year following Superstorm Sandy. In all, of the $14 million cost for the development, the notice states that “DCA expects to fund the project using approximately $7,900,000 of HMFA funds.”
Although there are a few businesses and New Jersey Transit bus service to Red Bank, Asbury Park, and surrounding communities within a 10-minute walk, this area was largely designed for vehicular traffic, and residents of the development will be a short drive away from the Monmouth Mall, Monmouth University, and Long Branch.
