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A possible land swap between the Asbury Park Housing Authority and redevelopers at the Springwood Avenue Project site is on the table.

The Springwood Avenue Project is a multi-structure redevelopment venture slated for Springwood Avenue between Atkins Avenue and Memorial Drive.

Terms and conditions of the redevelopers’ agreement are still being worked out and sources tell the Sun a change of land ownership between the Housing Authority and Interfaith Neighbors may take place so that parking and other requirements at the site can be satisfied. The move would require approval from the Asbury Park Mayor and Council.

Donald Sammet, director of planning and redevelopment for the city, could not confirm the potential switch.

“I can not say, but I can say that the Housing Authority is a major stakeholder as it owns property in the area, such as Boston Way, Asbury Village, and Lincoln Village,” Sammet said. “Any redevelopment of Springwood Avenue should include coordination with stakeholders in the area, whether a major land owner such as the Housing Authority, a resident, or a merchant.”

The Asbury Park Housing Authority received permission  from the  U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Special Application Center to demolish Boston Way Village in September of last year. Boston Way is situated on the southern portion of a block between Memorial Drive and Sylvan Avenue. The empty land in the northern portion that fronts Springwood Avenue is a part of the project.

Interfaith Neighbors has planned a 45,000 square foot arts and entertainment building they are calling “Asbury Jams” on the same block, according to Paul McEvily, associate executive director of the nonprofit group.

McEvily said one of the project’s goals is to bring the flavor of old jazz clubs back to Springwood Avenue, with a supper club type of atmosphere where musical performances can take place in a more intimate setting.

Three distinct elements will make up the building’s interior construction. A gallery space designed to Smithsonian standards to accommodate Smithsonian travelling exhibitions, an approximate 200 seat musical and theatrical space, and five or six meeting rooms for plenaries or conferences, according to McEvily.

“We’re very excited about the project,” he said, which will provide revitalization of the west side through a destination point on the west side of town.

People travel to Asbury Park and go to the waterfront, the downtown, and along the Main Street corridor, but “there aren’t a lot of reasons in town for people to come in and go west,” he said. “It’s an ideal time for us all to be working together in the area.”

Interfaith will also construct another building primarily made up of affordable housing units. They were chosen as one of two developers for the project, along with The Michaels Organization, a Marlton-based company that specializes in affordable, mixed-financed housing as. The Michaels Organization will build three mixed-use structures on Springwood Avenue. The buildings will include residential units and spaces for commercial development.

It is the Housing Authority’s  goal to redevelop the Boston Way site into one of the most desirable mixed income communities in the state of New Jersey, consisting of not just affordable housing units, but  “a mix of home ownership units along with market rate units,” Interim Executive Director of the Asbury Park Housing Authority Tyrone Garrett previously told the Sun.

There have been no amendments to the Springwood Avenue Redevelopment Plan since its adoption in February of 2008, according to Sammet.

“In terms of the concept – nothing has changed,” said Paul McEvily, associate executive director of Interfaith Neighbors.

“It only makes sense to use, and to others … that we work together in concert as the transformation [of Springwood Avenue] takes place in the next three to five years,” McEvily said.

“I am encouraging coordination between Interfaith, Michael’s, and Housing Authority so that we are all on the same page with what one another is doing, and see if there opportunities where all can work together for an even better end product,” said Sammet.

Sammet said he estimates the redevelopers’ agreements will be finished up and all development approvals will be in place for construction to commence sometime in 2015.

[Photo at top: An architectural rendering of the building projected for the northeast corner of Springwood Avenue and Memorial Drive.]

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