By DON STINE
Seventy high-end townhouses, a 112-room hotel and other commercial uses are proposed to develop a 30-acre site at Deal Road and Route 35 in Ocean Township.
At the Feb. 23 Township Council meeting, Mayor Christopher Siciliano discussed an early proposal to develop the site at the northeast corner at the intersection of Deal Road and Route 35.
He said the developer, Paramount Realty, based in Lakewood, is owned by Maurice Zekaria, an Ocean Township resident.
“The developer is a local resident and Paramount is getting an application ready for the Planning Board. We had other companies offer us different concepts in recent years but nobody ever pulled the trigger to get things going,” he said.
Under the proposal, 70 high-end townhouses, priced at $500,000 or more, would be built on 20 residential acres on the site, along Deal Road, with the remaining 10 acres, along Route 35, used for commercial uses. These uses are proposed to include a 112-room hotel, a Wawa store with a gas station, a fitness center, and a Chick-fil-A restaurant
Siciliano said an earlier proposal for 255 apartment and condos to be built at the site was rejected by the township.
“Development at this site has to be smart growth and not just a high-density project. This project will bring jobs, make road improvements and will add some nice tax assessments,” he said.
The project would bring in about $3 million for road improvements at the Deal Road and Route 35 intersection.
A right-turn only jug handle onto Route 35 north from Deal Road would be created on the site. A new traffic light is also proposed at the intersection of Logan Road and Deal Road since the entranceway to the townhouses would be right across from the end of Logan Road.
“Access to the residential area will be strictly off of Logan and Deal roads, with a four-way light there,” Siciliano said.
There is also a proposal to create a nine-acre passive conservation park at the north end of the property. Siciliano said he is also urging the developer to build a winter ice-skating rink on the large, vacant lot just east of the Township of Ocean Museum, next to the public library on Deal Road.
