By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
OCEANPORT – Sports businesses and a fruit-forward franchise are the first lessees at RiverWalk Center, a commercial redevelopment on 12 acres inside the Oceanport Avenue gates of Fort Monmouth. Construction is about to begin on the two buildings the businesses will occupy, with completion anticipated for spring 2024.
Playa Bowls, No Limit Ninja and Nicol Squash were revealed as the incoming concerns during the project’s groundbreaking Saturday, June 3. When completed, the complex will have three new and three revamped brick structures with 26,000 square feet of retail and mixed-use space and a drive-thru. The site’s historic Allison Hall, a circa 1928 former military hospital, is being preserved, renovated and readied to become a boutique hotel by the center’s partners, Michael Abboud and Chris Ilvento, both of Oceanport.
County and local officials, friends, family and others involved in the project attended the groundbreaking, scheduled to coincide with the fort’s first BouJee FoodieCon Food Festival held recently behind Russel Hall, also owned by Abboud.
Michael Rude of No Limits Ninja, left, and Jessica Winstanley of Nicol Squash, right, announced their businesses would be the first to open in the new commercial complex known as RiverWalk Center, owned by Chris Ilvento and Michael Abboud, center. Laura D.C. Kolnoski
The founder and CEO of TetherView, a private cloud provider, Abboud became one of the first investors in the fort’s renaissance when he purchased Russel Hall, renovating it into TetherView’s headquarters. Partnering with Ilvento, founder of Ilvento Builders and Developers, LLC, Abboud purchased the Allison Hall parcel in 2018 for $2.3 million. Plans are to invest about $25 million into the parcel’s redevelopment.
When RiverWalk Center is completed, the public will be able to stroll the waterfront promenade, enjoy the view and patronize businesses that will include a two-story restaurant, also part of Abboud and Ilvento’s plans. No operators have been selected for the hotel or restaurant yet. Talks with several interested parties are ongoing, the men said.
During golf cart tours, participants viewed completed portions of the promenade, saw the building that will house the restaurant, and drove where the new businesses will be located.
Potential patrons of RiverWalk Center, bordered by Oceanport Avenue and Parkers Creek, include thousands of new residents, some already living in the fort’s residential developments scattered throughout the 1,126-acre former U.S. Army base spanning portions of Eatontown, Oceanport and Tinton Falls. Until the projects are finished, each developer must construct and maintain their portion of the pedestrian promenade that will eventually run from Oceanport to Eatontown.
“The waterfront is cool, and the sunsets are amazing,” Abboud as he thanked officials from Oceanport and the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) for their support during the four-year sale and approvals processes. “We obviously love the community; we live here!”
At the groundbreaking, Jessica Winstanley of Nicol Squash said this will be the firm’s second location after 476 W. 42nd St. at 10th Ave. in Manhattan and will be called Nicol Squash+ due to the addition of indoor and outdoor pickleball courts. Operations will mimic the 6,000-square-foot New York City location but offer more in the fort’s 13,000-square-foot space.
Nicol Squash offers “level-specific group programming,” events and tournaments for juniors and adults. Winstanley learned of RiverWalk Center at “a very lucky dinner party” where she connected with Abboud and discovered his son attended a Nicol Squash camp. She praised Abboud and Ilvento’s “vision for a lifestyle destination in an incredible location” that would allow her business to expand in a new build.
Michael Rude of No Limit Ninja is a Rumson resident familiar with the fort. His first location is opening in Yonkers, New York, this fall. Similar to what viewers see on the TV show “American Ninja Warrior,” the approximately 7,000-square-foot facility will have courses and obstacles, classes for all ages, competitions, and will host birthday parties and other special occasions. Both businesses are in the process of hiring architects and preparing plans to submit for local approvals.
Rude cited Abboud’s “motivation to make Fort Monmouth a destination for families and entertainment” as a reason he chose to locate at RiverWalk, noting other options coming to the fort will give parents “a ton to keep them occupied while the kids are training.” He was introduced to the project by Tom Mertens, a broker leasing the retail components. Mertens said much of the interest he’s gotten comes from food-related concerns. He’s hoping to attract nonfood retailers offering things like dry goods and clothing.
A new location of the Playa Bowls franchise with outdoor dining is the most recent RiverWalk addition. This will be the fourth location for partners Zack Morriello, Pete DiSpirito and Rob Sickel after Point Pleasant Beach, Sea Girt and Ocean Township.
“Oceanport is a great area and Netflix is coming to the fort,” Morriello said. Netflix is in the early stages of purchasing almost 300 acres of the fort with plans to create a 12-soundstage production facility. “I love this development,” Morriello added.
“This is the first real blank slate we have had developed in Oceanport and we appreciate Michael and Chris investing in the town they live in,” said Mayor Jay Coffey. “It will be the face of the borough as you come into the fort. Oceanport has never really had a commercial tax base. This will help our existing local businesses and draw people to their locations, too.”
The article originally appeared in the June 15 – 21, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
