City, iStar come to agreement on Vive exterior features
Homeowners now occupy the seven units in Building One
Members of the Asbury Park planning board voted Monday to amend the preliminary and end site plan agreements for the Vive townhome complex. The amendment addresses the number of trellises that will be installed on the upper balconies of the units and how many windows will feature a Bahaman-style shade, which had been at issue during a previous planning board meeting.
The plan has now been amended so a total of 18 units will feature trellises and Bahaman-style shutters will be installed on all the ground level windows that front Kingsley, Asbury and First avenues.
The vote was 4-1. Planning board members James Henry, Seresa Grillo, board chairman Herb Fehrenbach and Council liaison John Moor voted yes. Board member Robert Feinstein voted no.
The Vive complex consists of four buildings, each containing 7 units. Last week, iStar welcomed the first seven homeowners into Building One, situated at the corner of Kingsley and Asbury avenues, according to an email from their Asbury Park Waterfront marketing campaign.
The board had discussed their understanding of the architectural plans for the multiple housing units at the Oct. 21 meeting with the building owners, waterfront redevelopers iStar Financial. iStar had proposed a “coastal urban aesthetic” in the buildings’ design to be partly achieved by the installation of trellises and Bahaman-style shutters. It was the board’s understanding that all 28 units in the complex would feature a trellis and shades would be installed on all of the windows.
On a recent inspection of the buildings, a discrepancy was noted by the city’s construction officials as only some of the units featured trellises and not all windows were covered by the shades. Construction officials ceased issuing permits until the matter could be addressed by the planning board.
During the Oct. 21 planning board meeting, representatives from iStar explained the decision to install trellises and shutters was left up to the homeowners and the discrepancy was not noted until the construction officials had stopped issuing permits.
It was not iStar’s intent to mislead or deceive the board or to cut corners, Frederic P. Laventhal, an attorney for iStar Financial, said to the board at the Oct. 21 meeting. The issue was brought to their attention when city construction officers noticed the change and stopped issuing certificates of occupancy.
In order add trellises to all of the units a considerable amount of demolition to the upper decking material would have to take place to all of the remaining units that were largely completed and had not been planned to feature a trellis so that they would meet certain criteria to ensure proper hurricane and waterproofing compliance, Brian Cheripka, vice president of land for iStar Financial, said at the Oct. 21 meeting.
A vote on the matter was carried over to the Nov. 5 meeting, since members of the planning board had changed from iStar’s initial presentation, so that all members of the planning board who did not attend the initial presentation could listen to the tape of the presentation and therefore be eligible to vote.
———————————————————
Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook and Twitter.
