January 21, 2007
In the Region | New Jersey
The Town That Would Be Hot
By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
KEANSBURG
IT'S January, and not a bit too soon to think about property on the
Jersey Shore. For those seeking beachfront bargains, after all,
opportunity can be fleeting.
In Long Branch two years ago, prices seemed to rise almost instantly
amid a wave of redevelopment. Asbury Park is still a work in
progress, but housing prices haven't waited for the makeover of a
derelict boardwalk neighborhood to be completed. Typical condominiums
in the redevelopment area there are already priced well over
$500,000; the choicest units go for $1 million and up.
Even with an overall housing market gone soft, prices in waterfront
communities where prices have risen sharply are unlikely to sink back
down, according to real estate agents who specialize in such
properties.
The trick, of course, is to find the spot where prices will rise
next. Now comes a bid from the little borough of Keansburg to be seen
as that about-to-be-discovered place.
Keansburg, home to 11,000 year-round residents, a small amusement
park and a boardwalk beach on Raritan Bay, has tumbled into a fairly
sorry state, even its partisans acknowledge.
It was established as a shoreline getaway even before the Garden
State Parkway was built in 1957, and some Jerseyans, and even New
Yorkers, still visit Keansburg and nearby Sandy Hook out of
longstanding tradition.
But with its beachfront area now populated mainly by fish-fry places,
arcades, billiard parlors and a group of run-down apartment
buildings, the median house value in Keansburg was put below $100,000
in the most recent census. The median household income was $36,383 in
2000 and probably has not risen substantially since then, according
to local officials.
A large majority of the housing stock primarily small wood-frame
homes is more than 50 years old.
Several years ago, borough officials took stock and decided all that
had to change, according to Terence Wall, who was appointed borough
manager in 2005.
"The borough has embarked on a campaign to bulldoze blight," said Mr.
Wall, who is beginning a speaking tour at area Chambers of Commerce
to publicize Keansburg's intention to metamorphose and attract new
businesses.
"We are a borough pulling itself up by its bootstraps," Mr. Wall
added, with gusto. "If Horatio Alger was the name of a town, it would
be Keansburg."
Mr. Wall suggested that Keansburg offers "a place near New York City,
with bus, train and ferry service nearby, a major revitalization
program under way, and the ability to buy beside the water for those
who may have been priced out elsewhere."
He said he had already started to get calls from large developers
expressing interest in the idea of a Long Branch/Asbury Park-style
total makeover. But he also said borough officials were determined
not to use the eminent domain power to condemn and clear a large
swath of land along the shore for redevelopment.
"We are committed to the scalpel approach," Mr. Wall explained, "in
which we carve out specific parcels for redevelopment, but pursue
overall revitalization by including the existing property owners, and
providing them the opportunity to propose their own ideas for rehab
and upgrade."
This is true for both commercial and residential property, according
to the manager. So far, several very small condominium buildings have
been built along the beachfront road; a block of storefront space is
being rehabbed; and groundbreaking is planned within the next several
weeks for a 48-unit condo project.
A sales trailer is already set up on the beach for the project, to be
called Harbor Lights on the Bayshore, a three-building complex to be
built by the Kalian Companies of Red Bank. The project is designed to
introduce a new elegance to Keansburg, according to Alton Evans,
Kalian's vice president for sales and marketing, with sophisticated
architecture and an array of upscale amenities, including an outdoor
pool with cabana.
Prices for 1,773-square-foot two-bedroom units at Harbor Lights will
start in the low to mid-$400,000s. Twelve penthouses, occupying the
fourth floors of the buildings, and offering 1,940 square feet with
an upper loft and roof terrace, are priced in the high $500,000s.
All units above the first floor will have views of Raritan Bay across
to Staten Island and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Mr. Evans noted.
Promotional material for the project notes the attractions of nearby
shore towns like Red Bank and Holmdel: chic clubs, shopping, seafood
and specialty restaurants, live music at Count Basie Theater in Red
Bank, well-known entertainers at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel. It
also proclaims nearby ferry service to Manhattan, which is only 20
miles away; quick access to the Garden State Parkway; and train,
light rail and bus service.
The borough is also formulating plans for a new marina, which would
give residents the added amenity of pleasure boating.
Meanwhile, it is continuing with a beefed-up housing code enforcement
program to rid the borough of "deadbeat and absentee" landlords, he
said.
It has also been awarded state financing for a pilot program aimed at
desalination. Saltwater intrusion into freshwater systems is a common
problem in shoreline towns, he said, and only Keansburg and Cape May
are currently part of a program aimed at addressing it.
"Whatever avenue to revitalization makes sense," the manager
said, "we will pursue."
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