$40 Million Multiuse Project Brings Hope to Highlands

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By Muriel Smith
Back in the 1930s and 40s, the little bungalows on Locust Street in Highlands opened out to the wide open beaches along the Shrewsbury River, and kids from those houses could race out the back door, run across the sand and play in the river while their moms could keep an eye on them through their kitchen windows.
Then in the 1950s more people came streaming into a borough known more for its summer recreation, its merry-go-round on Bay Ave. and its two railroad stations, one at Waterwitch a short walk away, the other at the far end of town near the bridge. By 1951, Spring Burtis Perry had opened the trailer park along the waterfront, giving an entire community of people fantastic views and gorgeous settings for their homes along the waterfront.
By the 60s and 70s, there were more houses going up, Conners Hotel added a swimming pool, a marina was built along that beach where kids had played, the community had survived Hurricane Donna, and restaurants drew more people to that side of town.
In the 80s and 90s, the trailer park continued to exist, one of two in the borough, the marina thrived, and the restaurants were known for excellence throughout the state. The railroad had long since been gone and in its place, Shore Drive was a paved thoroughfare.
In the 21st century, condos have lined Shore Drive, Conners Hotel is gone, Sea Streak is booming, and Super Storm Sandy wiped out the trailer park, Sandy Hook Bay Marina, and ended the most recent lease on the restaurant at the marina destroyed by the storm. Navesink Capital Partners, LLC, has owned and operated what was Paradise Trailer Park since the firm, headed by James Bollerman, purchased it from Donald Somers, along with Sandy Hook Bay Marina in 2004.   Residents and businesses, you could say, were back to square one.
This year, Bollerman and his firm are promising new hope, new economic recovery, and a new vision for Highlands. Navesink Capital Partners has paved the way and rapidly advanced its approved plans for a $40 million complex on 11 acres of waterfront land. The complex, comprised of a marina, marine building, restaurant, outdoor café, Tiki bar and residential townhomes, will also create approximately 125 new jobs, after the estimated 500 positions created for the construction have completed what will be the largest project that has ever been offered to Highlands in its 215 year history.
Workmen are on the scene every day at the western end of the borough, clearing the debris from the demolished buildings, and paving the way for the new neighborhood of town homes, high end restaurants, and a marina and accommodating structures to capitalize on the site.
Construction on the marina section of the project has been well underway since Sandy totally devastated the west side of the Highlands waterfront, with dredging, the installation of a new raised bulkhead, floating docks, boat slips with fingers, and an expanded use to allow room for 129 boats, 15 of which would be reserved for transient space, and custom accommodations for boats up to 80 feet in length. A wave screen was expected to be barged to the site last week but was delayed because of the inclement weather.
Bollerman anticipates having the marina open in time for the 2015 boating season beginning in May. It was the devastation caused by Super Storm Sandy that initiated the new construction, together with Bollerman’s own desire to bring what appears to be a huge economic boon to a community hit hard by the storm.
In addition to a marina building, a restaurant complex of three different types of fine dining will be constructed, with the main dining room able to accommodate 120 diners together with an outdoor café on the patio of the restaurant and a Tiki Bar fronting on Sandy Hook Bay. Bollerman said the restaurant complex will be headed up by a well known restaurateur, but declined to name him this week, saying there would be a major announcement in the near future.
The residential portion of the project, named Navesink Shores at Sandy Hook Bay Marina, will include 49 townhouses ranging in size from ranch to two and a half story homes and will be spread among several different buildings, creating a unique landscape that accents the location and land. The townhouses will be available for sale under a townhouse form of ownership in accordance with municipal ordinances.
Bollerman has secured all the necessary permits and approvals for the project, including agreeing with a land swap conducted between Highlands and Atlantic Highlands in which a portion of his land previously located in Atlantic Highlands has been annexed to Highlands, giving that community all the rights to ensure conformity with all of its ordinances and regulations. (See related story)
Nor is Bollerman new to construction of unique and upscale projects. In real estate and construction in Monmouth County for four decades, and a resident of Little Silver, the firms he has been affiliated with have been acclaimed for including development, planning and construction of more than 17 million square feet of commercial, industrial and residential space in New Jersey. In 1991, he was named NAIOP (National Association of Industrial & Office Parks) Developer of the Year; he has received the Monmouth-Ocean Development Council Silver Gull Award, the NJ Business & Industry Association Good Neighbor Award, and the NJ State Conference of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsman annual Masonry Award. Some of his other current projects include the Allaire Corporate Campus, a 28 acre professional complex in Wall Township, as well as West Ridge Corporate Campus, a 115 thousand square foot complex in Eatontown. He also previously developed the 170 unit Alderbrook town houses in Little Silver. His Real Estate Services firm provides development, consulting, master planning, asset management and property management services to corporate and institutional entities.
With his intense dedication to construction, land enhancement and re-development, why is he so excited about the waterfront complex in Highlands? “I like a challenge,” he explains, “I’m really excited about this project especially since it is located in such a beautiful site in Highlands.” As a long time property owner here, “’I am pleased we will be able to redevelop something so devastated by Sandy, but also because I have a true affinity for the community, its history, its people, its unique environment. Highlands is a special place and this will be a ground-breaking addition.”