Photo courtesy FMERA
By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
OCEANPORT – Fort Monmouth’s Barker Circle complex, a 20-acre site located directly inside the Oceanport Avenue entrance to the former U.S. Army base, is now under a Purchase, Sale, and Redevelopment Agreement with Regional Development Group, LLC (RDG). The pending sale was unanimously approved by the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) at its Sept. 18 meeting.
RDG, co-founded by Fuller “Trip” Brooks, purchased the fort’s former Dance Hall last year and is currently redeveloping that into The Loft, a microbrewery nearby in Oceanport due to open next summer. RDG prevailed as the highest ranked qualified bidder over four other proposals received for Barker’s Circle. The purchase price is $4.85 million.
Located in the 100-year-old fort’s National Register Historic District, the parcel contains seven buildings totaling approximately 198,600 square feet. The buildings are considered “contributing historic resources subject to historic preservation covenants,” according to FMERA documents.
“I personally have historic restoration experience, so I’m not uncomfortable doing this,” said Brooks, who revealed in an exclusive interview that a restaurant and a Showroom Cinema movie theater will be included in the renovated Barker’s Circle, which includes Kaplan Hall.
“Kaplan Hall was a museum, but it was a 400-to-500-seat movie theater before that,” he said. “The original floor is still there. I thought of Mike Sodano of the Showroom Cinemas in Asbury Park and Bradley Beach. Mike was very interested in opening there and he became part of my proposal. It would be his third location, with three screens.”
“The fort offers us an exciting opportunity to not only expand our brand, but adaptively reuse a building that was originally a movie theater,” Sodano said. “It will tap into a community that will be building over the next 10 to 20 years and gets us a whole different audience in that area. We hope to have a design that is unique and have the ability to provide rental and event space, which is successful in Asbury Park. We’re also investigating ways to offer beer and wine service.” Fort Monmouth was granted a dozen liquor licenses by the state last year to help spur redevelopment.
While Brooks confirmed a waterfront restaurant will be part of the revitalized Barker Circle, he said it is “too early” to discuss details. He noted the building intended for it has bay doors, 18-to-20-foot ceilings and second floor space with kitchen facilities from when it was used as a firehouse by the U.S. Army, making it “a unique space.”
The mixed-use project will also include 75 residential units broken out as 60 market rate units and 15 affordable housing units for sale or rent, some slated for veterans. A structure on the property known as Building 282 is currently occupied by the Oceanport Police Department, which will vacate it upon completion of new headquarters, part of an adjacent 13-acre parcel being transformed into the new Oceanport Municipal Complex.
“Four residential buildings, one office building, one restaurant and a three- screen movie theater. That’s the plan,” Brooks said, adding his proposal must go before the Oceanport Planning Board once the formal FMERA due diligence period is successfully completed, which can take 90 days or more. Required permits and approvals must be obtained within nine to 15 months of the end of the due diligence period.
RDG’s investment in the project is expected to be $22.5 million. It’s estimated that 70 part-time or full-time temporary construction jobs will be created, with 25 permanent full-time and 15 part-time jobs to follow. As per FMERA rules, the purchaser must pay a penalty of $1,500 for each projected job not created.
“It’s significant due to its location right on Oceanport Avenue,” said Robert Lucky, FMERA interim chairman. “It will give some sign to those driving by that things are happening there.” “The plan is really nice. It looks like a great project that will make a great statement,” said Bruce Steadman, FMERA executive director. “It will make a very welcoming entrance.”
THE LOFT UPDATE
In August, Brooks’ firm received unanimous approval from the Oceanport Planning Board to move forward with The Loft, the microbrewery and event space on 4.2 acres being created in the 1940s former fort Dance Hall. Due to severe damage from Super Storm Sandy, the building had to be gutted and the roof rebuilt, Brooks said. A new front and two second floors are also being added.
“We are rehabilitating the existing 16,000 square feet and adding 8,000 more,” Brooks said. Last week, at the local planning board’s request, RDG brought in an arborist to undertake a tree survey to determine the number, location and condition of trees on the parcel. Brooks said he expects to apply for permits within the next 30 days.
“We’re following the steps. It’s going well and we’re excited to get it going,” he said.
