ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – A sprawling apartment complex in Atlantic Highlands has been purchased by Kushner Real Estate Group (KRE), an organization owned by Murray and Jonathan Kushner, relatives of President Donald Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Formerly known as Thousand Oaks Village, the 304 apartment units and approximately 35.4 acres of land have been renamed Atlantic Pointe Apartments.
A 2018 tax assessment valued the property and its buildings at $29.1 million, but KRE finalized a deal July 19 to purchase the Navesink neighborhood for $56 million.
In a phone interview Tuesday with The Two River Times, KRE’s director of acquisitions, Darin Raiken, said his firm’s only relationship to Jared Kushner is familial ties and that KRE is not involved in a pair of recent lawsuits launched against Kushner Companies – a separate real estate development company – by former and current tenants of a Brooklyn apartment complex and another rental building in Maryland.
Some in the community were less concerned about political affiliations and more focused on possible rent hikes.
“I may not agree with Trump on everything but that really has nothing to do with what’s going on here,” resident Christie Convery said. “In this situation, what matters most to me is that rent stays the same and that our community stays together.”
“We want to improve our tenants’ quality of life, which is why we’re planning improvements to parking lots and amenities on site, including improvements to the community pool, improvements to the tennis courts that are in a dilapidated condition and an upgraded playground site with picnic tables and benches,” Raiken said.
Thousand Oaks Village was built in 1981 and renovated in 1999. Rebranded as Atlantic Pointe Apartments, the complex is comprised of 20 two-story buildings with 196 one-bedroom apartments, 48 two-bedroom apartments and 60 three-bedroom townhome-style units.
This article was first published in the July 26- Aug. 2, 2018 print edition of The Two River Times.