By Stephen Appezzato
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Denholtz Properties, a Red Bank-based real estate developer, broke ground on its Brant Point project on the waterfront just north of downtown. The development will include 16 upscale homes, a waterfront walkway and open space.
Each “coastal modern designer” home, starting at $2.8 million, will be constructed by Lead Dog Custom Homes, using plans from Spiezle Architectural Group. The property, located off Center Avenue, is commonly known as Wagner Beach.
The news marks a significant step forward for Denholtz Properties after five years of resident skepticism of the housing plan. The company initially received borough approval for the project in 2019; however, citizens’ group Neighbors for Waterfront Preservation objected, eventually filing a lawsuit against the developer and the Atlantic Highlands Planning Board. The group won the case, with the New Jersey Superior Court overturning the site approval.
The three parties involved later came to a settlement, and Brant Point was given the green light again.
Opponents of Brant Point were concerned about multiple changes to the site plan. In one, 1.8 acres of public access was scrapped from the site. It has since been restored.
Another concern for some was the environmental state of the 7-acre parcel. In 1929 the space was operated by Standard Oil, with Exxon eventually taking control of the land. Most recently, a boat storage facility, Blackfoot Mobile Marine Services, occupied the space. When work and site remediation were underway last summer, some nearby residents were concerned over a lingering odor they thought was petroleum. Some speculated the site was not being properly remediated. Additionally, residents were concerned petroleum was seeping into Sandy Hook Bay due to a compromised retaining wall on the property. In August, the developer posted a Notice of Violation for stormwater runoff from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Responding to The Two River Times, Steven Lidster, director of development at Denholtz Properties, said in a statement, “The health and safety of the residents of Atlantic Highlands has been, and continues to be, our top priority.”
Lidster said the developer “fully completed all of the appropriate remediation steps at the site in adherence with all national, state, and local environmental protocols to ensure the continued safety of the community throughout the construction process.”
However, nearby resident Angus McDougald maintains petroleum seepage into the bay and a distasteful odor still remain.
“You can clearly see there’s still oil pollution oozing,” McDougald said. Videos and photos uploaded to his Facebook page appear to support this, depicting oily sheens on top of bay water abutting the property at low tide.
“There’s a tide cycle, right, two times a day. If there’s a rainbow sheen on high tide, that washes out (to the bay). New rainbow sheen is coming every day for the last year and a half off of the dirt through the seawall,” he said. “I could pretty much anytime show people oil-polluted dirt” at the site, McDougald said.
He noted when dirt is being moved on the site, he still smells the odor residents reported in August. When dirt is not disrupted, he said the smell is far less apparent.
McDougald has set out to inform new and prospective buyers at Brant Point of his findings.
“My thing right now is to make sure that future buyers know that it’s (the property), like, entirely still polluted,” he said.
Denholtz Properties maintains the site was properly remediated.
The first homes at Brant Point are expected to be completed in early 2025.
The article originally appeared in the April 18 – April 24, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
