Springwood Ave. deal hits snag
LATEST IDEA FOR BLIGHTED ASBURY PARK AREA OPPOSED
Published in the Asbury Park Press 02/8/05
By NANCY SHIELDS
COASTAL
MONMOUTH BUREAU
City
officials were nearly ecstatic last fall when they announced they had reached a
deal with the 94-year-old Long Branch millionaire Philip Konvitz to relinquish a
15-year claim on a blighted four-block section of Springwood Avenue in Asbury
Park.
But the city's optimism over its plan to get the Springwood parcels
back for development has been dampened in recent weeks.
Konvitz had built
15 homes in 1990 but could not sell them for several years and never carried out
his contract to build 60 more homes as well as stores and other commercial
venues between Atkins Avenue and Memorial Drive.
Some of the city
politicians in power over the years allowed Konvitz to hold on to the land, and
the area, blighted since the 1970 riots, remained undeveloped.
The new
deal calls for Konvitz to sell 50 parcels to Somerset Development LLC of
Lakewood to build primarily market-rate single-family housing. Somerset will pay
Konvitz $825,000, with $350,000 of that amount designated as the city's share of
the settlement.
But the recent announcement of a second developer in the
mix has stirred serious opposition.
Ingerman Affordable Housing Inc. of
Cherry Hill plans to build 70 affordable housing rental units between Sylvan
Avenue and Memorial Drive, a section that the public over the years believed
would be used for new stores and a supermarket for the west side.
Most of
the public concern voiced over the past few weeks has been against placing 70
rental units on one site that is in the heart of three city public housing
projects. Residents and city planners have said the affordable housing should be
built on scattered sites throughout the city. They also said a plan should
include stores on Springwood, possibly with apartments or lofts on the second
floor, not unlike the streetscape of the corridor many years ago.
One
resident, Mary Johnson, a former Board of Education member and current parent
activist, told the City Council last week that the affordable housing should be
scattered throughout the city and especially on the east side where major
redevelopment efforts are under way.
"It is wrong, if you don't treat
people on this (west) side of town right," she said.
For the market-rate and affordable housing projects to go forward, the city
has to approve a Springwood Avenue Redevelopment Plan. A hearing on that plan is
scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday.
Mayor Kevin Sanders backs the plan as it
is now written and says it's essential to build good, affordable rental units
for people who may be displaced by the waterfront redevelopment or from surging
real estate values.
But he wants to hear from the public on Thursday and
encouraged residents who live in the blighted area to come to the
meeting.
The city moved quickly in drawing up the redevelopment plan so
that Ingerman could participate in this year's federal low-income tax credit
program, which is administered by the state and helps finance developers of
affordable housing projects. The deadline for Ingerman to apply for the tax
credits, which are sold to large companies to help fund the projects, is April
6.
Councilman Ed Johnson said he's focusing on the entire Springwood
Avenue corridor that runs west to the Neptune border and for which the city has
additional plans for stores, more housing and a new elementary school.
"I
have a commitment to affordable housing in Asbury Park, whether in this area or
scattered," Johnson said.
Susan Gruel and Fred Heyer, planning
consultants to the city Planning Board, recommendeded in a report that the plan
for 70 units at one site be switched to a "more urban, mixed-use development
plan including a significant percentage of ground-floor, nonresidential uses.
There appeared to be a consensus among board members that in an ideal world,
Springwood Avenue would be redeveloped as a mixed-use corridor."
The
planners noted that it is not yet known if there is a market for large-scale
retail development along Springwood. But they also pointed out that the property
is at the center of three of the city's large-scale public housing
projects.
When Hazel Samuels, the city's director of housing and
community development, appeared before the Planning Board on the Springwood
plan, she said it was important for the public to understand what is meant by
"affordable" in connection with the project.
Samuels said many people
think it means people living below the poverty level, which she said for a
household of four meant an annual income of $18,400 or an hourly rate of
$9.58.
For affordable or low-income housing, she said the guidelines are
different. For a household of one, that amount is $40,250; for a household of
four, it's $57,500; and for a household of seven, it's $71,300.
"When you
talk about low income, you're talking about our own professionals here in city
hall," Samuels said. "You're talking about Board of Education employees. You're
talking about folks who work for major nonprofits, for our lenders. Those are
the folks that we're talking about. . . . We're not talking about poverty level
(but) people who need a whole different approach for their housing needs to be
met."
Deputy Mayor James Bruno said he's questioning the Springwood plan
as it now stands because he wants more of the land to be used for recreational
fields once it is freed up from Konvitz.
"In my opinion, there's more of
a need for recreation and parks for kids in this town than there is for
housing," Bruno said. "We can grow trees but not land."
Bruno said he is
not opposed to market-rate or affordable homes in the plan but wants to reduce
the density of both.
City Manager Terence Reidy said he sees the
settlement with Konvitz as a good one with Somerset planning to pay Konvitz
$825,000 of which $350,000 will go to the city.
Konvitz set out to build
the 75 town houses to be sold in the $75,000 range in 1990 as a favor, he said
at the time, to his friend â then Mayor Thomas Smith. The land was an urban
renewal area owned by the city Housing Authority.
Konvitz could not sell
his 15 town homes in the first several years. He said he lost $300,000 to
$350,000 on the project and blamed the state for not coming through with funding
to help him.
Konvitz was to pay the city at least $350,000 for the
portion of land designated for the residential units. He never paid that money
or for the additional land he tied up but never built new commercial venues
on.
Konvitz retained control over the property over the years through his
relationships with city officials even though he never built another town home
after the early 1990s.
Konvitz was indicted in 2002 on charges of
extortion and bribery. He was found to be incompetent and his case was
dismissed.
"This (the settlement) untangles and resolves what's necessary
to develop Springwood Avenue, which has laid fallow for 35 years," City Manager
Reidy said.
