Photo by Philip Sean Curran
By Philip Sean Curran
HIGHLANDS – Some of the development projects coming to Highlands in the next year or two will include a high-end residential development with views of Sandy Hook and New York City and a renovation of Captain’s Cove Marina, borough officials said Oct. 21.
New York-based Alpine Real Estate Group intends to acquire the Shadow Lawn Mobile Home Park, a 14-acre parcel located on Ocean Boulevard. The borough made the site a redevelopment area, so any future developer could construct as many as 30 units per acre. Ten out of the 14 acres are buildable, so there could be up to 300 residential units in all.
Borough officials said Alpine is under contract to buy the parcel from its current owner. Cliff Moore, the borough’s economic development consultant, said Alpine is going through “due diligence” on the deal.
He said Alpine has not yet come up with a concept for the property to present to the borough. Todd Schefler, a co-managing partner of Alpine, could not be reached for comment.
Mayor Rick O’Neil said other potential buyers had been interested in the property. “It was just they couldn’t agree on a price for it,” he said.
Borough officials touched on Highlands’ advantages, like having a ferry service that can bring commuters to Manhattan in as little as 30 minutes. The residential development is envisioned as attracting high-end tenants.
Alpine would have to meet an affordable housing requirement of 20 percent of all units that get built. For instance, a 300-unit development would have to have 60 affordable units priced at below market rate.
O’Neil said he thought some of the affordable units would be on site, while others might be elsewhere. The borough, noting the site has needed to be rehabilitated for at least 20 years, expects construction to start in 2021.
“So this is a major milestone,” Moore said.
Officials have not made a decision on whether to provide Alpine with a tax abatement or payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT).
“It really depends on what they’re going to put there,” Moore said. “But as of now, there’s been no discussion.”
The borough has not discussed with the school district what the impacts on school enrollment would be from a new residential development. Moore said most of the units would be one and two bedrooms, so there would be fewer school-age children living there.
On the other end of town, Turn Key Resource Group intends to acquire the marina, dredge the water to accommodate larger boats and fix up the area.
“So the advantage here is right now these bigger boats have no place in the Bayshore area to dock,” Moore said. “They have to go to New York. This now becomes an option for them, which again now brings a totally different clientele. And again this becomes more of a destination, which is what we’re ultimately looking to do here in Highlands.”
Work is expected to start in early spring 2020, Moore said.
“The deal is getting close, it could happen by the end of this year,” said Geoffrey Pierini, president and CEO of Turn Key. “We have plans to really clean up the area.”
Both projects fit into a broader strategy of redeveloping the town of about 4,700 people, with the goal of attracting a more affluent crowd to the borough. A bed and breakfast and a film studio, among other businesses, are thinking of moving to town, Moore said.
Some plans are further along than others. A new European-style café restaurant will open next spring at 128 Bay Ave., Moore said. The name of the buyer has not been disclosed, but the new owner will occupy what is a vacant building.
Also, a work-share, where people can rent office space, plans to open at 196 Bay Ave. in what also is a vacant building. Highlands Cowork plans to open in early 2020, Moore said.
The redevelopment comes with the local government improving the community’s infrastructure and planning to open a new municipal building, all made necessary by Super Storm Sandy seven years ago. Moore, a longtime businessman, was hired by the borough earlier this year to work on economic development for the community.
“What it’s about is to bring outside people into the town to support the businesses,” he said. “It’s a very, very small community and you have to have density in order to have some of these businesses. You can’t just open up a shop and expect it to work. So you’ve got to bring people in from the outside area that want to come in here.”
He sees attracting businesses as a way to lower the property tax burden on residents. He said anywhere from 10 to 15 development projects will be happening in Highlands over the next 18 months.
And the community may change; some houses on Bay Avenue are already going for more than $500,000.
“The whole Bayshore area, the prices of everything are screaming high,” O’Neil said.
The announcement about the projects comes with the Nov. 5 mayor’s race between O’Neil and councilwoman Carolyn Broullon in the home stretch.
O’Neil said he did not know if the redevelopment news helps his candidacy or not.
Broullon said Oct. 25 that residents of Highlands community tell her that they want “responsible development” in the community.
“They don’t want to have things overdeveloped,” she said. “They want Highlands to be a place for everybody.”
Editor’s Note: Carolyn Broullon’s response was added to the online version of this story on Nov. 8.
