Vacant buildings west of ‘stump yard’ on chopping block
Two structures on Fourth Avenue will also be demolished
Waterfront redeveloper Asbury Partners is set to demolish four buildings over the next one to three weeks.
Two of the buildings are located in the same block as the area known as the stump yard on Cookman Avenue. Asbury Partners began to level the stump yard yesterday.
The two buildings on Cookman are a former bank which functioned briefly as board of education headquarters [pictured above] and the yellow brick building next door.
“This is an ongoing effort on our part to improve the entire waterfront and we’re just getting started,” said Brian Cheripka, vice president of land for iStar Financial, the majority owner of Asbury Partners. “Our goal is to show continued progress across the waterfront.”
Asbury Partners plans to landscape the lots left behind after those buildings are demolished, Cheripka said. Landscaping on the corner will be similar to the shrubbery installed on the corners near the planned Vive condominium site.
The redeveloper has no current plans to build on the stump yard or those buildings’ lots.
They will plant some trees along Cookman Avenue, as well as sod and grass, as a result of these changes. They also plan to install new street lights in front of the nearby Wesley Grove condominiums.
Asbury Partners will also demolish two long-vacant properties on Fourth Avenue [pictured above, right] across the street from Asbury Lanes, Cheripka said.
“This is all part of a larger redevelopment plan,” Cheripka said.
