By DON STINE
The long-vacant Jersey Central Power and Light Company buildings in Allenhurst have been successfully sold through auction and plans for the building are now pending.
“I think the town is excited and we are hopeful. These buildings have been abandoned for over ten years and are starting to fall into disrepair. The are looking forward to their renovation, which will help our Main Street area,” Mayor David McLaughlin said earlier this week.
Allenhurst Power Station LLC, was the successful bidder. The corporation is headed by Jon Leidersdorff, owner of the Lake House Music Academy in Asbury Park, and developer Michael Abboud
Allenhurst Power Station and JCP&L officials are not yet commenting about the sale or future plans, citing a signed non-disclosure agreement and pending completion of a due diligence process. No site plan has been submitted but a preliminary presentation was made during a Borough Council meeting.
“We met with the group in December and hope to hear plans for the building shortly,” McLaughlin said.
The borough has also hired a redevelopment attorney with will work closely with the new purchasers.
The auction included a four-story operations and maintenance building at 520-534 Main Street. The masonry, Art Deco-style building, built in 1929, has almost 99,000 square feet of space and is on 1.15 acres of land west of Main Street, by the railroad tracks.
A one-story garage, built in 1925 and which used to house electrical trolleys, is on about 2.19 acres at 312-324 Hume Street, east of Main Street. That building is expected to be razed and the land has been rezoned for six residential homes.
Allenhurst’s Master Plan calls for adaptively re-using the existing Art Deco-style building to enhancing the retail and housing opportunities along Main Street. The JCP&L buildings are the largest properties in the Main Street redevelopment zone
Permitted uses at the larger building include residential, retail, restaurants, and a gym or health club with a public plaza area and onsite parking.
