By Sunayana Prabhu
HOLMDEL – After months of public input and careful consideration, the township committee unanimously approved the Vonage redevelopment plan, paving the way for a new senior living community on the site of the former telecommunications company’s headquarters.
The 5-0 vote at a special meeting Dec. 20 came after the planning board reviewed the plan Dec. 17 and provided few recommendations, which the township committee largely rejected, citing impracticality and the need to adhere to the original vision for the property.
“This is the best possible solution that we’ve come up with, very simply,” said Mayor Rocco Impreveduto during the meeting. “Every other solution we looked at either overly taxed our infrastructure or was inappropriate.”
The 350,000-square-foot corporate building, located on nearly 88 acres at 23 Main St., is one of the largest parcels in the township. However, it hasn’t yielded much benefit for the municipality because it has sat largely vacant for nearly four years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vonage, a cloud communications company, moved into the Bell Works complex on Crawford Corner Road.
The property will now be transformed into a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) by Bloomfield-based developer Community Healthcare Associates (CHA). The proposed features include independent living, assisted living and memory care units. CHA initially proposed nearly 400 units but scaled the plan down to the approved 299 residential units, including 104 condos in the existing building, 40 rental units in a new three-story building, 90 nursing beds in an additional new three-story building, and 65 new townhomes. The plan also includes amenities like a clubhouse, pool and other recreational facilities, in addition to restaurants, retail convenience stores, medical and professional offices and ambulatory surgical suites.
Importantly, besides integrating an affordable housing element in the project, the developer has agreed to deed five acres on the southwest corner of the property to the township for a new combined fire and EMS station to serve the growing senior population in southern Holmdel.
There are several permitted uses, such as biking and walking trails, tennis, pickleball, basketball courts, uncovered parking areas and solar carports, among others, mentioned in the overall redevelopment of the area. The plan isavailable for review on the township’s website.
“This redevelopment plan provides an opportunity for Holmdel seniors to continue to live in Holmdel and receive long-term health care while staying close to their children and grandchildren during their later years,” said resident Patrick Trischetta during public comments.
The decision comes after an extensive public review process that included input from an ad hoc committee established by the township to seek additional inputs on the redevelopment of the property, zoned for office/laboratory. The governing body considered several adaptable land use options during previous public hearings, including a data center that would house information technology applications, low-density single-family luxury homes, a college campus, warehouses, co-working space rentals and an indoor recreation facility.
Several residents raised concerns about the project’s potential impact on the environment, town infrastructure and quality of life. One of the key issues that drew significant attention was the property’s existing package sewage treatment plant, which some residents feared could pose a risk to the nearby Swimming River Reservoir, a critical drinking water resource for over 300,000 Monmouth County residents.
“We have to take that really seriously,” said resident Jay Yannello, who served on the ad hoc committee. “You don’t want to be the committee that destroyed the drinking water for 300,000 people.”
In response, township officials emphasized that the redevelopment plan will include stringent environmental safeguards and that the existing treatment plant will be upgraded to meet or exceed all regulatory standards. “Anything done here is going to meet the maximum standard for safety and environmental consideration as well,” Impreveduto said.
Karen Strickland from Citizens For Informed Land Use (CILU), read a statement before the planning board at its meeting, echoing oncerns regarding the wastewater treatment plant and other issues, like traffic congestion on Holmdel Road and Newman Springs Road. According to the statement, the Vonage property, built in 1977, “has a history of numerous violations, and was designed to handle effluence during office hours, not 24-7 domestic and medical wastewater.”
The statement further elaborates on the impact the redevelopment could have on Willowbrook, a state-designated Category 1 stream that feeds into the Swimming River Reservoir. “One of the permits for the plant allows discharge to the Willowbrook,” Strickland said, noting that the existing lagoon is only 100 feet from the Willowbrook and there is a downward slope from the lagoon to the stream. It is less than 2 miles upstream to the Swimming River Reservoir.
“As there were no Category 1 guidelines at the time the package plant was built, it has been grandfathered in,” Strickland said.
The CILU board cautioned that the “redevelopment plan before you now does not include enough specifications (such as the requirement of active carbon filters or the demand for new permits in accordance with current regulations, not just simply the renewal of existing permits) to protect the drinking water of Monmouth County residents. Furthermore, it does not address the potential introduction of pharmaceuticals or detergents in the wastewater.”
The CILU board has requested an independent hydrologist be hired by the township to study the plan and make recommendations to the township prior to its finalization.
Despite these issues, the committee ultimately determined that the redevelopment plan represents the best option for the property, given the constraints and the risks of leaving it vacant.
“Leaving the property vacant, hoping, can’t be an option for us,” Impreveduto said. “It’s not about what’s going to cost us; it’s about what we’re going to have to deal with if we don’t get this done,” the mayor said, referring to the impending deadline to provide state-mandated affordable housing obligations.
The township is currently facing a deadline for the fourth round of affordable housing obligations and the largely vacant Vonage property has not been yielding full tax benefits to the municipality for years, opening it up for the least desirable uses, such as high-density housing.
The state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) recently released nonbinding estimates for the next decade of obligations as part of the fair share housing law in New Jersey. Every municipality must fulfill these obligations or risk losing immunity from builders’ remedy lawsuits, leading to the loss of zoning powers for the municipality. Adhering to the state law provides immunity from such lawsuits.
Holmdel is required to build 133 affordable housing units, according to DCA estimates. Impreveduto has argued that accommodating these units could require nearly 700 new homes, given a typical 20% set aside for affordable housing in a development. The town’s leadership has challenged the state-mandated obligations and is currently engaged in an ongoing lawsuit along with 25 other municipalities in the state, citing a lack of infrastructure and resources to support high-density growth in their towns.
The decision to redevelop the Vonage property into senior living is a significant change but committee members expressed confidence that the redevelopment plan, with its focus on senior housing that provides additional credits to cover affordable housing obligations and the new fire/EMS station promised by the developer, represents the best path forward for Holmdel.
“I do feel strongly that this redevelopment plan for Holmdel is the best option for this property,” Impreveduto said.
The committee also recently approved the acquisition of a 5-acre property in the township, owned by St. Catherine’s Church, on Middletown Road for $1.25 million. The land will be preserved as open space, a move that residents appreciated.
Overall plans for the senior living development approved in December will be open to public input when CHA developers return to the next planning board meeting with architectural details and site layout.
The article originally appeared in the January 2 – 8, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
