This is an artist’s rendering of a new project planned for Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park.
By MICHELLE GLADDEN
Two years after proposing a six-story rental project at one of the Asbury Park’s most notable intersections, APW, an affiliate of waterfront master redeveloper Asbury Partners, presented a less dense project being marketed to prospective homeowners and commercial entities.
As the municipality’s redevelopment authority, the City Council will now consider whether or not to send the project on to the Planning Board for approval.
Now planned at the Cookman and Asbury Avenues junction leading to the waterfront will house a five-story condominium, a four-story townhouse string along Cookman Avenue, and a three-story mixed-use building at the intersection, according to Project Attorney Jennifer Phillips Smith of Gibbins PC.
And while the redevelopment plan allows for up to eight stories in that area, the new structures are meant to complement what currently exists. One example is the five-story multi-family situated along Asbury Avenue across from Phillips Seaview Tower, Project Planner John Barry of Heyer, Gruel and Associates said.
The redevelopment project will include a proposed subdivision that will have two conforming lots, Barry said. Each use, the condos, townhomes, and commercial are permitted under the waterfront redevelopment plan. They will provide compliant parking and the project will be constructed in two phases.
Project Engineer Lena Balorda-Barone of French and Parrello Associates said the five-story condominium will house 50 residential units, the three-story mixed-use building will consist of eight residences and ground-floor commercial space, and there will be a total of nine four-story townhomes along Cookman Avenue.
“We put a lot of thought into the site design because of the unique triangular shape and the nature of this development,” Balorda-Barone said. “This took some creativity.”
Due to its proximity to Wesley Lake, the two-acre vacant land is partially located in a floodplain, Balorda-Barone said.
“One of the reasons we proposed the northwest entrance at that location is because it is the highest elevation of the site and allows us to meet the NJDP dry access rule, meaning the driveway is at the highest elevation, and even in a flood condition there would be no more than 12 inches of water in the driveway.”
Here are a few other notable project points:
This is a mixed-use multi-building development.
The three-story mixed-use building, with 5,000- square-feet of commercial space, will be the last to be constructed because APW [Starfield] will utilize the lot as a staging area.
Off-street parking is proposed in a surface lot, within townhouse garages, and at the ground level of the multi-family buildings.
The subdivision equates to one lot at 650,293-square -feet and the other at 190,474 square feet. There will be two homeowner associations and cross easements for access.
Multi-family Building: has four residential floors over ground-level parking and a rooftop deck. There are 50 units: 22 one-bedroom with bonus rooms and 28 two-bedroom units with bonus rooms. All units have a balcony. Many of the bonus rooms are equipped with closets but do not have windows.
Mixed-Use Building: consists of 5,018-square-feet of retail space and a 16-space parking garage on the ground floor. The two floors of residences include two three-bedroom duplexes, four three-bedroom units, and two four-bedroom units. All but one of the residences in this building has a terrace or balcony.
Townhouse Buildings: has nine units, each with a two-car garage and a ground-floor flex space. The three floors of living space consist of three bedrooms, a rear deck on the second floor, and a roof deck on the Cookman Avenue façade.
