 Renovations to the shopping center along Route 33 and W. Sylvania in Neptune City call for having four and 11 tenants in the two buildings. |
The shopping center along W. Sylvania Avenue in Neptune City, which has remained mostly vacant for many years, could have a new look and tenants by the spring of next year.
The Neptune City Land Use Board approved plans to renovate the eyesore of a shopping center along Route 33 and W. Sylvania Avenue.
After hearing testimony from the applicants engineer and architect, the board enthusiastically endorsed the plan, which could have the center open for business by Spring 2009.
The renovations call for having the larger buidling, formerly a Shop n Bag, split between two to four stores. Ideally, a large chain would take up most of the building, said Don Beekman, the applicants attorney. The smaller building could house as many as seven tenants. The inside of the buildings will require utility work, said Peter Ricci, the applicants architect.
The centers new design will have split-level masonry. The top part of the walls will have a stucco finish while the bottom will be made from a material difficult to vandalize, Ricci said. The same look will surround the centers refuse area so it cant be seen from W. Sylvania Avenue.
The sidewalk along the stores will be repaired, and the canopy over it will be removed. New canopies will be added over the doors of stores.
The renovations also call for adding landscaping throughout the property. Trees, bushes and flowers will be added to the northwest corner of the property along Route 33, the southwest end along W. Sylvania Avenue and in parking lot medians that will be added in.
Efforts to reach the applicant through Beekman were unsuccessful.
One potential tenant, Retro Fitness, has already placed signs up in one of the shops windows. Retro Fitness was also the only potential tenant to have a name included in an artists rendering of the finished project.
The Central Jersey Bank next to the center is not part of the renovation plans.
The board and Beekman both acknowledged the center had been somewhat neglected over the years.
Its an eyesore, Beekman said. (The renovations have) got to get done, and we want to get it done.
Were very happy, Mayor Thomas Arnone said of the renovations. Arnone said the center had been under utilized. The applicant is really stepping up to the plate.
Ralph Molinari, owner of the neighboring Bilow Shopping Center, was as enthusiastic as the board.
I am delighted, and I cant wait for this project, he said.
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