$25,000 to help Freehold document economic vision

[Fed Up]

www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060914/REPORTER03/609140526/1099

$25,000 to help Freehold document economic vision
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/14/06

BY ALESHA WILLIAMS
STAFF REPORTER

FREEHOLD — Freehold plans to use a $25,000 state grant to hire a consultant to plan a vision for downtown for the next 10 years. The Borough Council last week passed a resolution to formally apply for and to accept the grant.

The funds already were earmarked for the downtown development plan in the state budget, said Jayne Carr, executive director of Freehold Center Partnership.

The borough has made strides in boosting the downtown economy since the partnership was created 15 years ago, Carr said. Revitalization work includes building the Main Street gazebo last year, offering live entertainment programs and aesthetic renovations on the streets.

"The town was closing down (15 years ago)," Carr said. "You can see it's in flux because people come and go, but right now there's probably only a 3 to 5 percent vacancy.

"Did Freehold become a ghost town and go away, as it was looking like it was going to then? Absolutely not," Carr said.

"We certainly want to focus more on business development," and expand perimeters, such as to Throckmorton and South streets, she said.

"The ratables downtown are what offset the residential taxes," she said. "A healthy downtown will keep a healthy neighborhood."

[Fed Up]

An earlier APP article on the downtown "vision thing" grant:
www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060308&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=603080391

[Marc LeVine]

YES, and more importantly we need the Partnership to identify and pursue some more interesting retailers to the downtown to attract more business. We have enough new hair salons and restaurants. We need more retailers and evening entertainment venues to keep people in town after dinner.

In today's Transcript, Macerich Corp, the newest owners of Freehold Raceway Mall announced plans for a new 100,000 foot open air lifestyle center adjacent to the mall. This project will look much like a "Main Street," complete with 15 retailers and two restaurants with outdoor seating and plenty of parking!

Don't forget that Manalapan will soon break ground for "the Village," another town center type project just a few miles from the Borough off of Route 33 West.

And if that is not enough, a huge upscale lifestyle center is already underway on Rt. 9 North on the Marlboro/Old Bridge border. And, the big Chelsea/Simon outlet center on Rt 66 in Neptune is close to being approved and begun. That one is only about 8-10 miles from the Borough.

All these projects will draw people away from the Borough, so we need to be creative and persistent in filling the downtown with interesting places people NEED AND WANT TO VISIT.

We need to do MUCH BETTER than "Savings World" if we want to attract more people to town and we need the County to erect that long awaited parking garage.

Marc

[admin]

This thread really caught my attention. Everything that Marc said is on the money. We can not allow other towns or the mall to take away our potential.

I have seen this before. I have roots in Asbury Park. My grandmother worked at the Steinbach in the down town area for many years. That area was similar to Freehold with it's down town feel. The Seaview Square Mall was the final nail in the coffin for that part of Asbury. Steinbach's moved to the mall. Not long after, most of the remaining stores closed down, turning Cookman Ave. into a ghost town. Ironically, it was Freehold Mall that really took the wind out of the sails of Seaview Square Mall, which is now gone.

This was all around 1980. Fast forward to the past couple of years and Cookman Ave. is finally doing well. The point is, it took Asbury a very long time to recover, and it is still in the process of doing so. We do not need to see Freehold follow suit. The cost is just too high.

We need to think beyond Main street. Include South, which is getting work, Throckmorton, and all of the other business areas. Fix the points of entry into this town. Diverse business, good recreation( which we have), and above all, accentuate what we have and others do not. The Historical Commission should be a part of this. The recreation commission too.