By Sunayana Prabhu
MIDDLETOWN – The township committee announced a new developer for the Circus Liquors site at its Aug. 21 meeting while also adopting a resolution to have the planning board look into designating the property as an area in need of redevelopment for condemnation purposes.
The governing body made the decision as it was notified of a builder’s remedy lawsuit by the previous developer of the site, AAMHMT Properties LLC. That developer withdrew during the COVID-19 pandemic but now wants to build high-density residential units on the property, instead of the previously agreed upon commercial spaces.
At the meeting, the township committee designated Red Bank-based B.D’Uva Development as the new developer.
Nearly 53 acres of the Circus Liquors property, known for its landmark Calico “evil clown,” is located at the intersection of Route 35 and Kings Highway East. It is a piece of the larger Circus Liquors Redevelopment Plan, adopted by the township in 2018, that covers a cluster of adjoining parcels totaling around 126 acres.
The site was previously being studied for non-condemnation purposes and was approved for an approximately 340,000-square-foot retail center called Village 35/The Shoppes At Middletown, to include tenants such as Wegmans, a movie theater, a sports bar and more. But with the onset of the pandemic, “a lot of commercial tenants started to back away, didn’t want to expand anymore,” said Anthony Mercantante, the Middletown Township administrator. Due to these changes, AAMHMT Properties withdrew in 2020.
According to Mayor Tony Perry, the Circus Liquors site is blighted and has not been fully productive since the 1990s. The Azzolina family, owners of the property under the company Mountain Hill LLC, have been claiming a farmland tax exemption by harvesting the remaining trees on the site, Perry said.
“Despite spending a decade forming a cohesive redevelopment plan for the site, the property owner has still failed to develop what was agreed to,” Perry said in an emailed statement Aug. 23, explaining that after the “former designated redeveloper withdrew more than three years ago, the Township has heard nothing from the property owner. Accordingly, the Township has designated a new redeveloper to create a project that will be in the best interest of our residents.”
Perry also noted Middletown has “taken the first step in the process of allowing the Township to condemn the property for this project.”
However, AAMHMT is now in a purchase contract with Mountain Hill LLC. The developer wants to build nearly 1,000 townhomes – some designated affordable housing – and is suing the township for rejecting the proposal under the state’s Fair Share Housing Law which requires municipalities provide a certain amount of low- to moderate-income housing.
Mercantante said AAMHMT notified the township Aug. 21 about the lawsuit but the township has taken a firm stand. “We don’t think nearly 1,000 housing units would do anyone any good” in that area of Route 35, he said.
“It came as a big surprise to us because we’ve been working with the property owner and thought we had an agreement to do a commercial development on that part of the property,” Mercantante explained. “Never did they come to us to discuss any kind of residential development on the property.”
Mercantante also disagrees with AAMHMT’s argument that the township has not satisfied its affordable housing obligations, the basis of the builders’ remedy lawsuit. When the township approved the entire site for redevelopment in 2018, there was accommodation for both residential and commercial space. The plan included 350 townhouses – currently under construction by Toll Brothers – 70 of which will be affordable units, said Mercantante. Mountain Hill also owned the property sold to Toll Brothers for the residential development.
According to Mercantante, the township has built over 4,000 units “over the years,” a percentage of which are affordable and include various forms of housing types, such as condominiums, detached single-family homes, rental apartments, senior housing and more. The township is currently in the process of building a 12-unit rental project of affordable veterans’ housing on Leonardville Road.
Middletown has “done a lot” in terms of building affordable housing, said Mercantante, explaining that is one of the reasons the township decided to withdraw from the Fair Share Housing mandates in July 2019, even though it might leave it susceptible to builders’ remedy lawsuits.
Mercantante said the township has “built enough affordable housing” and will continue to build more affordable homes but wants “to be able to control where affordable housing gets developed – not have it dictated to us by developers.”
The potential new developer of the site, B.D’Uva, has indicated an interest in a multipurpose sports facility and has 90 days to present a conceptual development plan that is viable and realistic for the process to move forward. The township is expected to meet with B.D’Uva representatives in the next two weeks.
“We will always protect the interests of our residents and the township’s future,” said Perry.
The article originally appeared in the September 7 – 13, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
