Politics & Government

Long Branch Reaches Agreement With Redeveloper For Broadway Gateway Property

The agreement ends a legal challenge by the previous property owners.

By Christopher Sheldon

The city has reached an agreement to redevelop a property on the Broadway Gateway area after years of discussions and a legal challenge by the previous property owners.

The Broadway Gateway area is a redevelopment zone located at the east end of Broadway, where the road meets Ocean Boulevard.

The property owners, Fuschia Triangle and Patty Cicalese, have agreed to sell the property, to First Hartford Realty Group, which will become the redeveloper for the site. The site is located at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and South Broadway Avenue and currently contains an autobody shop and a used car lot.

A resolution passed by the Long Branch Council on Tuesday authorized the city to execute a developer's agreement with First Hartford Realty Group.

According to the resolution, the developer will build a 13,000-square foot CVS drug store with a two lane drive-thru on the property. The property would also have about 60 parking spaces.

However, because the property lies within a redevelopment zone, the city council and Long Branch Planning Board must approve the plan before anything is built on the property.

Long Branch Business Administrator Howard Woolley said the previous property owners sued the city in 2009 and claimed "we prevented them from developing their site (by classifying the area as a redevelopment zone) and they we should pay them for it."

"Our stance was that they never came in with an application to develop it," Woolley said. "They never pulled the trigger."

Woolley said the city was able to settle the lawsuit and come up with the redevelopment plan to build the CVS on the property.

According to the resolution, once the redeveloper is able to get the council and planning board's approval for the project, construction should begin and be completed within nine months.


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