"Some time ago a group called Asbury Partners obtained the development
rights
for the waterfront area from the town of Asbury Park. They made deals with
3
sub-developers to build condos; Paramount Homes for North Beach to the
North; Metro Homes to build the Esperanza in the middle; and Kushner to
build Wesley Grove in the south (by Wesley Lake). Then in May of 2007 they
signed a deal with Madison Marquette (a Washington DC based retail
developer) to handle all the retail along the boardwalk. They formed a
joint
venture with Madison Marquette called Madison Asbury something."
Okay, lets get this straight. The fact is that once upon a time (around
1980-81) when the state of NJ allowed Asbury Park to blight the beachfront
and go forth with a redevelopment, a plan was written and the City sought
out developers. The original plan stated that if you wanted to develop the
entire beachfront you had to be both able to do it and have the money to do
it. SIMPLY STATED THAT MEANS YOU HAD TO BE A DEVELOPER WITH MONEY!!! No
subdevelopers or partners without the approval of the city. No walking away
or selling out without the approval of the city. The other option for the
redevelopment was to have several builders bid for different blocks. So
it was several developers making agreements with the city for a single
section or one main developer doing it all.
So where did it all go wrong? When the original redevelopment plan, now
buried somewhere in City Hall, got changed and changed and changed. To my
mind, these changes were not done correctly nor legally keeping in mind the
City's obligation to the original blight and requirements for bidding as
opposed to allowing a takeover of a contract. But what do I know, no one has
listened to me for 25 years.
There is a lot more and I could go on and on but who's really listening,
not the citizens who just say hooray no matters who shows up to develop our
beachfront.
just my 2 cents worth,
Carol T.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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