By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
FORT MONMOUTH – A group of buildings known as the Post Office and Warehouse District when Fort Monmouth was a U.S. Army base are on track to be purchased for redevelopment by OPort Partners, LLC, a company owned by Denholtz Management Corp.
Located within Oceanport’s section of the 1,127-acre fort, all 11 buildings on the two sites will be demolished by the developer. Three Class A office buildings totaling about 86,250 square feet will be constructed on the Warehouse District site, which is bordered by Rasor Avenue and Murphy Drive near the Monmouth County Emergency Homeless Shelter. Those will include office, research and storage space with a focus on medical, biotechnology and software development.
OPort proposes to develop the adjacent six-acre Post Office site with uses complementary to the Warehouse District project, including office space, research and storage. Another three Class A office buildings totaling approximately 60,000 square feet will be constructed there.
Under its Purchase and Sale and Redevelopment Agreement with the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), OPort will pay $1.95 million for the entirety of the properties. The firm’s total capital investment is estimated to reach nearly $31.5 million. Under the terms of the agreement, OPort will commence demolition and begin site improvements within four months of closing. Work can be done in phases, which must be completed within a maximum of 22 months. The sale agreement now enters the due diligence period, which usually takes 90 days for the completion of engineering and environmental reviews, said Bruce Steadman, FMERA executive director.
Company officials estimate creating 264 temporary part-time or full-time construction jobs and a minimum of 439 part-time or full-time permanent jobs within 12 months of the project’s completion, or pay a penalty of $1,500 per job not created, as per FMERA regulations.
“Oceanport will emphatically approve this,” said Mayor Jay Coffey in casting his vote for the project, which was unanimously approved by the FMERA board at their July 17 meeting.
With commercial and residential projects in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida, Red Bank-based Denholtz Associates, led by CEO Steven Denholtz, is currently constructing two projects in Red Bank. Southbank at Navesink, located at 16 and 22 West Front Street behind the Monmouth Boat Club, is a 10-unit residential development with 26 parking spaces overlooking the river. On Bridge Avenue next to the train station, a mixed-use building called The Rail will include 57 apartments, a café and retail space.
NURSES QUARTERS SALE ON HOLD
A Purchase and Sale/Redevelopment Agreement for the fort’s former Nurses Quarters was also expected to be voted on July 17, but was pulled prior to the meeting, according to FMERA officials. RPM Development Group, LLC, of Montclair, prevailed over four other bidders for the 3.75-acre site on Main Street and Stephenson Avenue in Oceanport. RPM, which intends to purchase the property for $2.15 million, proposes to renovate and reuse the 24 existing units in two buildings and construct 10 additional single-family townhomes along Main Street. RPM’s capital investment in the project is expected to be a minimum of $6.69 million.
“The developer wants to add 10 homes to the 24 already there he’s renovating,” said Robert Lucky, FMERA interim chairman. The proposed new construction is inconsistent with FMERA’s original reuse plan for the site, requiring an amendment or variance.
Seven of the apartments are designated for affordable housing, with some of those potentially slated for veterans, officials said, adding the sale agreement will be back on FMERA’s voting agenda at its next monthly meeting. RPM is the same firm currently constructing the new single-family and townhome development, known as East Gate, in the fort’s former Officers Housing, also in Oceanport.
FITNESS CENTER UPDATE
The first residents of the East Gate homes attended their second consecutive FMERA meeting in as many months July 17, with an increased group of almost 20. In addition to voicing concerns over future open space uses, noise, traffic and street designations, including one-ways, they queried the board about the progress and future of various portions of the fort.
Regarding the coming fitness center undergoing reconstruction along Route 537 (Avenue of Memories) in the fort’s former gymnasium, Steadman told the audience, “The fitness center sale closed at the end of 2017 and the first issue was they found 32 leaks in the pool. They couldn’t fix it, so they ripped it out. A new pool would have been cost prohibitive. Engineering studies took time. As they ordered steel for the other aspects, President Trump’s tariff’s went into place and backed up delivery about five months.” Steadman said most of the needed steel has since been delivered and work on the front of the building is progressing.
