Post by admin on Mar 6, 2008 19:34:49 GMT -5
We have discussed this before, here is a good follow up article.
www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803060332
Orchard Street revival: Officials hope houses, condos bring new life to neighborhood
FREEHOLD — In a town almost completely built out, new development is arriving in the borough.
The borough Planning Board formally granted site plan approval on Feb. 27 to Bay Dock Holdings to build 30 age-restricted condominiums on Orchard Street, advancing the developer's plans to start construction.
The complex, called The Continental at Liberty Crossing, will be the only senior development in the town that requires ownership of the homes, Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina said.
"We are very excited to include the Continental as part of Orchard Street's revival and proud to integrate such a fantastic design to the Liberty Crossing at Freehold neighborhood," Charles Kelly, managing member of Sofia Homes, said in a news release.
Sofia Homes of Neptune City will be the general contractor for the property. The company began an adjacent project last year called Liberty Crossing at Freehold that will consist of 11 single-family homes, also on Orchard Street.
Two of the 11 houses have already been built, Kelly said. Sofia Homes will begin a push to sell the homes this month and will build more houses as contracts are signed, he said.
Construction plans for the age-restricted condominiums, which will be reserved for people age 55 and older, must be approved before any work can begin on the project, Kelly said.
"We'll probably start clearing the site before that," he said.
Those plans call for the 30 condominiums to be set in two four-story buildings arranged around a three-story clubhouse, according to Kelly.
Before the new construction began, Orchard Street had been a place where people went to party or to sleep and the borough had to clean it up ever year, Bellina said.
"Hopefully, it (the development) will ameliorate those conditions that have . . . straitened our resources over the last eight, 10 years," Bellina said.
Sofia Homes bought the property in 2006 and subsequently began cleaning up the area.
In March 2007, Sofia Homes broke ground on the single-family development. Once the Borough Council approved an ordinance allowing age-restricted housing on the Orchard Street property, developer Robert Passarella of Bay Dock Holdings, based in Lavallette, applied to the Planning Board for permission to build the condominiums.
The Planning Board voted 5-1 at its Feb. 13 meeting to approve the development. That approval was memorialized with a resolution at the board's Feb. 27 meeting.
Also part of the project's plans are the installment of street lights, sidewalks and shade trees along Orchard Street from Institute Avenue to Railroad Avenue, according to Kelly.
The single-family homes are expected to be ready for occupancy this summer. The condominiums will likely be ready by the spring of 2009, according to Kelly.
Kim Predham: (732) 308-7752 or kpredham@app.com
www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803060332
Orchard Street revival: Officials hope houses, condos bring new life to neighborhood
FREEHOLD — In a town almost completely built out, new development is arriving in the borough.
The borough Planning Board formally granted site plan approval on Feb. 27 to Bay Dock Holdings to build 30 age-restricted condominiums on Orchard Street, advancing the developer's plans to start construction.
The complex, called The Continental at Liberty Crossing, will be the only senior development in the town that requires ownership of the homes, Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina said.
"We are very excited to include the Continental as part of Orchard Street's revival and proud to integrate such a fantastic design to the Liberty Crossing at Freehold neighborhood," Charles Kelly, managing member of Sofia Homes, said in a news release.
Sofia Homes of Neptune City will be the general contractor for the property. The company began an adjacent project last year called Liberty Crossing at Freehold that will consist of 11 single-family homes, also on Orchard Street.
Two of the 11 houses have already been built, Kelly said. Sofia Homes will begin a push to sell the homes this month and will build more houses as contracts are signed, he said.
Construction plans for the age-restricted condominiums, which will be reserved for people age 55 and older, must be approved before any work can begin on the project, Kelly said.
"We'll probably start clearing the site before that," he said.
Those plans call for the 30 condominiums to be set in two four-story buildings arranged around a three-story clubhouse, according to Kelly.
Before the new construction began, Orchard Street had been a place where people went to party or to sleep and the borough had to clean it up ever year, Bellina said.
"Hopefully, it (the development) will ameliorate those conditions that have . . . straitened our resources over the last eight, 10 years," Bellina said.
Sofia Homes bought the property in 2006 and subsequently began cleaning up the area.
In March 2007, Sofia Homes broke ground on the single-family development. Once the Borough Council approved an ordinance allowing age-restricted housing on the Orchard Street property, developer Robert Passarella of Bay Dock Holdings, based in Lavallette, applied to the Planning Board for permission to build the condominiums.
The Planning Board voted 5-1 at its Feb. 13 meeting to approve the development. That approval was memorialized with a resolution at the board's Feb. 27 meeting.
Also part of the project's plans are the installment of street lights, sidewalks and shade trees along Orchard Street from Institute Avenue to Railroad Avenue, according to Kelly.
The single-family homes are expected to be ready for occupancy this summer. The condominiums will likely be ready by the spring of 2009, according to Kelly.
Kim Predham: (732) 308-7752 or kpredham@app.com
