BERKELEY – Tired of looking at the battered parking lot where the Beachwood Mall used to be?
If all goes well, it’s possible that you may not have to for much longer.
Construction on new stores could begin later this year, if the redevelopers can find qualified, interested companies that want to do business on the Route 9 South site in Bayville, township engineer James M. Oris said.
“The redeveloper has been actively looking for suitable tenants for Berkeley and the right fit for the site,” he said. “The overall plan is that the front portion would the first phase of the redevelopment of the Town Center area.”
The new center would be a mix of retail and residential use. But online companies like Amazon and others have taken “a chunk” out of the retail “bricks and sticks” market, which makes it harder to attract businesses, he said.
Township officials have “one hundred percent” confidence that the redevelopers – M and M Realty and Lennar Corporation – will be able to find the right mix for Berkeley, he said.
“The hope is that the front half of the site will see activity this year,” Oris said.
But attracting businesses isn’t the only reason the mall has sat vacant since the decades-old shopping center was demolished several years ago.
For years, the shopping center was an embarrassing eyesore, the first thing that motorists saw when they hit the Berkeley Township border on Route 9 South in Bayville.
And it’s been more than three years since the dilapidated shopping center was bulldozed into oblivion. The aging, cracked parking lot was long ago fenced in.
But the site, valued at $13 million, has remained in limbo.
The Township Council held a special closed meeting at noon on Jan. 21, and the shopping center was part of the discussion, township administrator John Camera told Jersey Shore Online.
The meeting was held on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday because township officials were all off from their jobs, he said.
They wanted to discuss “kick-starting” the development of the defunct shopping center, Camera said.
Part of the problem is the shopping center site’s history. It was developed by the wealthy, but rather eccentric James R. Johnson back in the early 1960s. Johnson also owned and operated the South Brunswick Asphalt plant, right behind the shopping center.
Johnson called the mall the Beachwood Shopping Center even though the site is in Berkeley, because he was miffed at Berkeley officials at the time. His daughter Priscilla Oughton inherited the property after her father died in 1999.
The township and Oughton spent years battling legally over the state of the property, which had fallen into disrepair, even though some businesses were still operating. At one point, Berkeley was fining her several thousands of dollars a day for the violations.
The State Planning Commission approved the township’s long-sought redevelopment plan six years ago. The shopping center site was dubbed “ground zero” in the plan.
But the latest cleanup costs for both the front and back portions is estimated at $25 million, Oris said.
Most of the contamination is from petroleum-based products associated with the asphalt plant, Oris said. Because Berkeley acquired the property through “friendly condemnation,” the township did not have to put any money in escrow, he said.
“If the full value of the remediation exceeds the cost of the appraised value, the township does not have to pay for the property,” Oris said.
The redevelopers will eventually own the site, with their cost of the removal of the shopping center and cleanup of asbestos and other contaminates subtracted from the purchase price, he said.
When it’s developed, it will be more of a regional center, drawing businesses from all over the county, township tax assessor Eric Zanetti has said.
“There is a potential for 2 million square feet of business and residential, on cobblestone walkways,” he has told the Berkeley Times. “It will be like how the Ocean County Mall brings in more customers than just Toms River (residents).”
Berkeley received $712,380 in Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Funding from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and a $275,000 state grant in 2017 to investigate both the front and back portions of the site for possible contamination, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. has said.
“The property assessment and investigative phase have been done and continue to progress,” Oris said. “The remediation has not yet started.”
The basement of the old shopping center was also removed and nothing was found, Oris said.
“It was empty,” he said. “I was in there personally. No surprises there.”
Township run recreation building with indoor skatepark, arcade, and indoor pool for every kid to enjoy and keep out of trouble.
James Strodel where’s the tax money to keep it running coming from
Erik Dollman winding river ice skating has been around for as long as I’m alive. It’s run by the township with township employees. You pay to enter and use the facility which then pays for the employees. At the same time you could have events held their, competitions, private party’s, the sky is the limit if it’s set up correctly.
Erik Dollman btw, veterans park in Berkley put in a great skatepark for the kids and adults. Everyday and I bet even today there will be a couple of brave souls using it. That’s entire park is barren everyday except the skatepark. The only time the park is used is during the seasons of baseball and football. There’s no lights at the skatepark and if there was there would be people using it at dark too. Doesn’t that say enough that there is a need and want for it. Everyone claimed in Toms River to pass the referendum because it’s for the kids well this would be something for the kids to do after school which would be used daily. Not everyone plays sanctioned sports offered by the schools nor will benefit from a Air conditioned bubble or new turf on a football field.
The kids are all inside playing video games.
Have you seen winding river park recently- poor place has seen better days. Glad we have it though-
Who wants to move there business to beachwood what major player
It’s Berkeley
this is ridiculous. asphalt remediation can take years….and there is absolutely zero mention of the coal tar dump. that land should be cleaned up before anything else is even considered.
Didn’t you see? They were given 750k for testing and remediation lol. Show me a remediation site that only costs to 750k to remediate and I’ll sell you rain in April
i know!!! if anyone buys that one i can sell you a bridge real cheap. there’s no way that site was fully gridded and tested for 750K. it cost double that to do a site half that size back in the 90s!
and the last asphault cleanup i followed cost 100 million…not 25.
Blah blah blah … Bring back Der Wonder Wiener that’s all that place needs
…and a bowling alley.
Hahah we will see. This is worse than the 166 construction ???
Nothing is worse than 166 construction, just saying!
???
Carrie Ann Leotis I’m gonna be 36, and I swear it’s been a mess as long as I can remember ?
For real… I’m 34 and same!?
Where are the traffic studies? What about already failing and failed businesses on the same corridor? What about the empty storefronts? Lack of infrastructure ie: Sewer, Electric, Water, Underfunded and Cramped Schools?
I’d rather look at a parking lot instead of housing and empty storefronts our roads can’t handle
Man I hope not. More traffic. More citiots moving down. Nothing good will come of this
Nope
West Virginia is looking reallll good
So is Tennessee
Brandon New Hampshire is real free too
Thats where we were looking last year. Awesome property for decent prices. Only issue is work
Brandon Ebbs I have a lead on driving for a garbage company out of Boston. It’s like an hour commute but Boston money brought back into NH is pretty dam good
I question my own sanity for buying a home in NJ….?
More vacant stores or another dollar store and vacant stores?
Roller skating ring for the kids
You’re lucky if you get Sears Kmart or Toys R Us turn it into a park
Marlena Gerry
Just clear and clean the whole thing up and turn it into a park. Let nature take back over maybe some outdoor recreational stuff. IDK just my opinion
It’ll never happen.
They should name it in honor of the guy who passed away there during demo
Over 30 years of that mess…who’s up for election and pretending they’re gonna make a change???
Nail salon, pizza place, vape shop, walk in methadone clinic, laundromat, adult book store, Chinese take out?
Forgot a drug store!