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City and county officials, along with representatives from waterfront redeveloper iStar Financial, discussed the possibilities for preserving Bradley Cove Tuesday.

The meeting comes five months after the city announced its desire to meet with county officials to restart discussion to preserve the land. County officials, however, would not meet with the city unless a representative of iStar was present.

Bradley Cove is the name of a development project that would see 15 town homes built on an open area of land on Asbury Park’s North Beach. IStar also has approvals to build a mid-rise residential tower on a triangular parcel just north of the Asbury Park Senior Towers.

IStar owns the development rights to one .6 acre parcel of land on the northern beachfront where the 15 town homes are slated to be built, and the land and development rights for another .6 acre parcel of land where the mid-rise tower has been proposed.

“It came down to dollars and cents,” said Freeholder Director Lillian Burry, who has been the freeholder liaison to the county parks system for the past six years. “IStar wants to be paid market value for property, and that’s where the rub came in because their feeling of what market value is, is substantial.”

Burry said representatives from iStar “felt very comfortable” that the land where the townhouses would be built is worth “well in excess of 3.5 million.”

“I kind of think everybody’s jaw dropped open [at the amount],” she said.

Asbury Park officials indicated the city does not have the funds to purchase the property and the county will not support spending that much money on such a small piece of property, Burry said.

Representatives from the Monmouth County Parks and Recreation Commission believe the number to be much lower, she said.

The county paid for an appraisal of the land but it was never fully completed because while the assessment was being prepared, Hurricane Sandy occurred, City Manager John “Jack” Kelly said.

If the cost of the property in question is in excess of $3 million dollars, the county will not “participate at that level,” said Kelly, who attended the meeting.

Still, no hard numbers have been reported, both Burry and Kelly confirmed.

City officials have stated they will reach out to the appraiser in an attempt to obtain a a copy of the incomplete proposal, Kelly said.

“It was a good first step towards learning everyone’s position regarding this area of the beachfront,” said Councilwoman Amy Quinn. “The groundswell of support has always been for preventing the development of town homes (i.e. Bradley Cove) on the North End beach and keeping that area looking and feeling open to everyone.”

Also in attendance at the meeting were Asbury Park Council members John Moor and Amy Quinn, iStar Vice President of Land Brian Cheripka and Monmouth County Parks and Recreation Commissioners  Mel Hood, Kevin Mandeville and Mike Harmon. Attorneys for iStar and the county were present, as well as professional staff from the city and county.

Discussions about purchasing land for preservation do not include the .6 acres where the mid-rise building is proposed to be built, and the county has no intention of buying that land, Kelly said. The talks involve the .6 acre tract where the 15 townhouses would be constructed, he said.

If the county chooses to buy the land, Cheripka has previously stated that iStar wants fair market value for its interests in the property, just as it must pay for properties it acquires in the redevelopment zone.

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