Fort redevelopment project features waterfront restaurant,
shops, offices and more
By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
OCEANPORT – Final negotiations are underway with three potential tenants seeking to be first into the new retail center rising along Oceanport Avenue on Fort Monmouth, according to the property’s owner.
“We were looking for well-established, local, Monmouth County businesses people love, who want to be in the epicenter of what’s going on at the fort,” said Michael Abboud of Oceanport, co-owner of the parcel, who declined to name the firms. “It’s very early, but now that we have broken ground, we can gear up marketing. We’re talking to neighbors and asking what’s needed. We’ve been in discussions with every type of business, including tech and traditional brick and mortar. Lots of cool jobs will be created.”
Abboud purchased the 12-acre, five-building Allison Hall parcel on the former U.S. Army post in 2018 for $2.3 million. Partnering with his friend of 20 years and fellow Oceanport resident Chris Ilvento, principal and founder of Ilvento Builders and Developers, LLC, Abboud envisions the retail portion opening in the first quarter of 2024 with anchor tenants, specialty shops, professional services, food uses and more. The historic Allison Hall is being restored and adapted for a multitude of potential uses. When completed, the RiverWalk Center complex will have three new and three revamped structures.
The red brick retail center at the signalized intersection of Route 537 and Oceanport Avenue will have 26,000 square feet of ground level retail and mixed-use space with 18 flexible storefronts and a drive-through.
No tenant has been procured for the 400-seat indoor/outdoor waterfront restaurant to be situated along Parkers Creek, Abboud said. For decades, Ilvento’s family owned Ilvento’s in Jersey City and Ilvento’s West End Manor in Long Branch. His brother Robert created Cluck U Chicken and owns the Silverball Retro Arcades in Asbury Park and Delray, Florida, which have dining components.
“We have a lot of interest in the restaurant,” Abboud said. “We want to find the right operator. It’s still out there; there’s no deal yet.” He added he “hasn’t had any conversations yet on the drive-thru” and expects to start marketing that later this month.
The complex will also include a one-story 10,243-square-foot building with expansion possibilities, a 16,758-square-foot red brick building with storefront glass, roll-up doors and loading capabilities, and a similar 19,720-square-foot structure at the rear of the property depicted as business centers.
Wide latitude was given in terms of potential uses throughout the site, as outlined in the purchase, sale and redevelopment agreement reached between the purchaser and the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), the state agency overseeing the fort’s redevelopment. Included are entertainment, craft production, specialty grocery, instructional studios, personal services, music, adult/child day care, showroom, private/nonprofit clubs, warehouse/distribution, sports, medical, research and development, education, and financial institutions.
In 2018, Abboud estimated investing $14 million into the project. Today, that figure is about $25 million due to “rising costs and inflation,” he said. Abboud was among the first to invest in the fort’s redevelopment when he purchased the nearby Russel Hall, a similar structure with historic significance that fronts the Parade Grounds. He renovated that into the headquarters of TetherView, a private cloud provider he is founder and CEO of. Abboud donates space in Russel Hall for a satellite location of the Monmouth County Veterans Services Office.
“Allison Hall and Russel Hall were built five years apart and have the same construction, fully concrete,” he noted. “I’ve done this before, and experience helps. Allison Hall is a great building to work with because it’s so structurally sound.”
Constructed in 1928 to serve as the fort’s hospital, the 36,665-square-foot, three-story Allison Hall was named for the fort’s sixth commanding officer, Col. James B. Allison, who initiated plans for its construction. An additional wing was added in 1934. Abboud said the interior will be fully rehabilitated and get a new HVAC system while the exterior will be historically preserved. The building includes an elevator and multiple entrances.
Although a hotel is also allowed on the site, Abboud said they are not developing one right now, but “are contemplating it for the future.”
“The market needs more hotels,” he added, citing the pending creation of an almost 300-acre Netflix production studio on the fort, but he said costs are prohibitive. Netflix is mentioned on the RiverWalk home page at riverwalkcenter.com.
“We’re fortunate to have them coming here,” Abboud said. “Welcoming Netflix to the community is going to help entrepreneurs plant deeper roots in Monmouth County. The history of the fort is rooted in technology and innovation and the area has a great talent pool to draw from.” A mentor with the Columbia University Center for Technology Management, he hopes to attract technology leaders and executives to the fort.
The partners must also construct their portion of a 12-foot-wide public pedestrian promenade along Parkers Creek that will connect to adjacent projects and the surrounding new residential neighborhoods that are part of the 1,126-acre Fort Monmouth’s redevelopment.
While approximately 100 temporary construction jobs and a minimum of 150 permanent full- or part-time jobs were agreed upon in the sales agreement with FMERA, Abboud said he expects RiverWalk Center to “exceed that significantly.”
The article originally appeared in the February 2 – 8, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
