The redevelopment of the former JCP&L Facility in downtown Allenhurst recently secured additional construction financing nearly nine months after Brooklyn-based developer Lee Cohen reportedly broke ground. New York-based real estate finance firm S3 Capital agreed to provide a $49 million construction loan towards the construction of 28 luxury townhomes and an apartment building with 23 affordable apartments on a 3.3-acre site located near the intersection of Main Street and Elberon Avenue.
A news release from S3 Capital about the construction loan said that all 28 townhomes will include four bedrooms, attached garages, high-end finishes, and span 3,000 square feet. The developer, New York-based real estate firm RedHoek+, according to S3, is planning a third phase that will include a condominium building with more than 30 residences.
Although the project might seem relatively small compared to the new developments underway in nearby municipalities like Asbury Park, the Power Station project represents a significant addition of new housing to the borough of Allenhurst, which is home to 472 residents, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. The entire municipality spans a mere 0.3 square miles, and the average home value, according to Zillow, is $2.2 million.
An ordinance from the borough, which granted a tax exemption to the developer back in May 2025, says that the parcel at 315 Hume Street will be the site for the new townhomes, while a building with 62 luxury apartments will be located at 500-523 Main Street. A third nearby parcel, owned by the borough and located on Lake Drive, was subdivided and will be the site of the affordable apartment building.
The text of the ordinance also notes that the Power Station at Allenhurst LLC filed a Mount Laurel exclusionary zoning suit against the borough back in 2021 to ‘compel the borough to provide a realistic opportunity for the construction of affordable housing for very low, low, and moderate-income households.’ That lawsuit eventually led to a settlement agreement between the developer and Allenhurst in 2023. The town officially adopted a redevelopment plan for the parcels via ordinance in February 2024.
A May 2025 report in The Coaster says that the settlement agreement also nullified historic aspects and corresponding protections for some of the JCP&L buildings that once stood in the assemblage. The report says that Dr. Richard Fernicola, a resident of Allenhurst and a physician, submitted an application to the Historic Preservation Office of the state Department of Environmental Protection last year seeking historic registry status for the buildings and water tower. Fernicola argued that the buildings have been listed in Allenhurst’s inventory of historic sites since 2001 and that the buildings were listed in the borough’s master plan as landmark historic buildings or structures.
While DEP’s Historic Preservation Office lists the complex as a historic property, the last survey of the properties, conducted in November 2020, indicates the site is not eligible for historic protection. No other surveys have been conducted since then.
A report in RE-NJ in mid-2025 said that the developer, Power Station at Allenhurst LLC, broke ground on the project in July. However, unlike the release from S3 Capital, the report and the ordinance state that the LLC intends to develop a building with 62 apartments and that the third parcel on Lake Drive would be home to the 23 affordable units.
S3 Capital did not return a request for comment from Jersey Digs. It remains unclear whether the release from S3 Capital reflects a revised development plan, as the project has gone through numerous iterations since the assemblage was sold in 2019.
