One Fort Monmouth Redevelopment Plan Nixed, Two Others Extended - Two River Times

By Laura D.C. Kolnoski

Among the actions unanimously approved at the July 21 monthly meeting of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) were the cancelation of one project in the works for years and extensions of completion dates for two others where construction work has not yet begun. “We’re ramping up to a very busy summer and fall,” said Bruce Steadman, FMERA executive director.

ARTS COMMUNITY, EATONTOWN

The proposal to create a long-anticipated arts complex in six buildings along Route 537 (known as the Avenue of Memories through the fort), has been terminated. The proposal by Ken Schwartz of Red Bank, owner of the Detour Art Gallery on Clay Street and former owner of World Jeep in Eatontown and the now defunct American Antiques in Neptune, began in 2016. Schwartz sought to create a cultural center that would have included 12 units of short-term residential space for artists. Schwartz famously termed it, “Woodstock without the pot.”

Work had not yet begun on the site for various reasons, including “numerous timing challenges,” delayed installation of utilities and infrastructure and pandemic-related delays. Schwartz requested the termination.

“My project is not going through,” Schwartz told The Two River Times July 22. “I started thinking about an arts community 40 years ago. Because of my business in Eatontown, I knew all about the fort. I had bid on two other projects there and finally got the barracks parcel. I got all the approvals. But I’m 70 now, like to travel and want to retire. It got to be a long process. I don’t know how long the infrastructure will take. But I want to say that everyone at FMERA have been phenomenal to work with. They could not have been nicer, more fair, or accommodating.”

BOWLING CENTER, EATONTOWN

Nearby on the other side of Route 537, Parker Creek Partners closed on the fort’s former Bowling Center March 31, renaming it The Alley at the Fort. A festive kickoff ceremony for the project filled with invited guests and refreshments took place April 15, complete with renderings showing a new state-of-the-art bowling facility designed in a retro 1950s/’60s style featuring two restaurants as well as pool tables and bocce courts. Parker Creek Partners asked for a time extension citing “difficulties in ordering and planning for construction materials due to supply chain issues.” FMERA members voted to grant the project a fourth completion date extension to April 2022.

BARKER CIRCLE PARTNERSHIP, LLC, OCEANPORT

Regional Development Group, LLC, (subsequently assigned to its affiliate, Barker Circle Partnership, LLC) was also granted a fourth extension to the projected completion date of its planned waterfront redevelopment. The site comprises 19.5 acres with seven buildings off Oceanport Avenue in the fort’s historic district. The original purchase and sale agreement was executed with RDG in September 2019.

Buildings there are subject to historic preservation covenants. Proposed is a mixed-use complex with 75 residential units including affordable and veterans’ housing, and commercial uses. Barker Circle Partnership plans to develop the property in four phases, to begin by Dec. 21, 2021.

This article originally appeared in the July 29 – Aug. 4, 2021, print edition of The Two River Times.