See the hundreds of new apartments and store space transforming Keansburg forever
KEANSBURG - The pounding of hammers and the buzz of saws echo along Carr Avenue, two blocks inland from the Keansburg Amusement Park. Two years after a gaggle of officials broke ground for an ambitious redevelopment project aimed at reviving this blighted stretch of property near the waterfront, there are signs of progress.
The first building of “Baypoint” — which is supposed to entail 700 luxury apartment units, 45,000 square feet of restaurant, entertainment and retail space, and 1,000 parking spaces — has risen.
The brightly multicolored edifice at 19 Carr Ave. “will be complete in the middle of next year (2024),” said Morgan Sackman of Sackman Enterprises, the Asbury Park-based developer.
“Demand for apartments all around Monmouth County is high, so we feel we are in a great position,” Sackman said. “We will begin marketing retail restaurants in the upcoming months.”
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Closer to the water, at the intersection of Carr and Beachway avenues, two large lots on either side have been cleared and are fenced in, awaiting construction.
“We have designed 1 Carr and 2 Carr (the addresses of the two lots) for restaurant space on the corner,” Sackman said.
The three sites along Carr encompass Baypoint’s first phase.
“In total this will be close to 190 (apartment) units,” Sackman said, adding that rental rates are not yet finalized.
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It’s been tough sledding to reach this point. At the 2021 groundbreaking, Sackman told the Asbury Park Press that phase one construction would take 12 to 18 months to complete. Then delays occurred at the Monmouth County level — Carr Avenue is a county road (Route 56).
“We worked with the county to regain control of Carr Avenue from Oak Street to Beachway for now, not only for the project that is underway but for other projects that are going to take place,” Keansburg Mayor George Hoff said. “They ceded that piece of road back to us.”
That concession was granted earlier this year by the Monmouth County Board of Commissioners.
“A lot of the stuff that is going to come up in the future, they have to keep going through a process of getting (county) approval for it — having the utilities underground and things of that nature,” Hoff said. “Now they can bypass all that.”
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Said Sackman: “A lot of the initial holdup was approvals we had to go through at the county level that were necessary, but now that those have been satisfied we are more comfortable putting more capital to work. Keansburg has been a great help in removing roadblocks and we continue to be confident in the future of the borough.”
Sackman Enterprises is best known for developing much of Asbury Park’s commercial district. At the Baypoint groundbreaking, officials predicted Keansburg would emulate that city’s revival.
“It’s moving along,” Hoff said. “They’re close to buttoning up the interior (at 19 Carr Ave.) I expect that to happen by winter, and then they can move inside.”
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Baypoint’s footprint eventually will extend four blocks inland, to Center Avenue. A bit further west, along Oak Street, an unrelated project is in the planning stages. The Affordable Housing Alliance, a nonprofit that has built over 600 homes throughout Monmouth County, will be redeveloping a stretch of its property there in consultation with the borough.
“They want to redo their buildings and put some retail in as well,” Hoff said.
Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Keansburg NJ apartments, stores, restaurants under construction
