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Tentative plans for a six-story residential complex with on-site ground-level parking were approved by the city’s zoning board for a vacant lot just west of the Asbury Park Transportation Center, between Cookman and Mattison avenues.

The lot, located at 201 Memorial Drive, has been idle since 1972 and last contained an auto repair shop, according to Trip Brooks, president of AP Development Partners, LLC., the development corporation that seeks to develop the site. The Memorial Drive and Main Street corridors are the next frontiers for development in Asbury Park, he said.

Brooks has been involved with development in Asbury Park since 2000. He brought downtown developer Sackman Enterprises to the area and worked with them until June of 2012, he said. One year later he began his own venture, AP Development Partners.

Brooks’ development corporation is the contract purchaser, they seek to develop the land contingent upon variance approvals.

“It’s really unusual to have a vacant lot across from the train station,” he said. “Having that transportation is so valuable to people.”

Realizing that the lot was empty for so long, he speculates it may have been because the lot was zoned for light industrial use.

In a 6-1 vote, the city’s zoning board gave the go ahead for a residential use variance, a setback variance to account for the geometry of the property line as it tapers south, and a height variance to build up six stories, he said.

Brooks expects to take ownership of the land within 60 days now that he has preliminary approvals.

If all goes as planned, a modern contemporary building equipped with 40 rental units — 30 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom — and ground level parking will be built on the property [shown at top]. It will be one of the first major new residential construction projects built outside any of the city’s redevelopment zones, he said.

Brooks still has one more hurdle to go. AP Development Partners will have to provide plans that include the required 50 parking spaces on the site. Current plans show 44, so whether he will have to reduce the units or reconfigure the parking design is something his team will be working on.

“We’re going to figure it out,” he said.

Brooks will be back in front of the zoning board with the updated parking plan and a fully engineered site plan after his corporation closes on the transfer of  land ownership.

[Above rendering of the proposed 201 Memorial Drive project is provided courtesy of Studio One Architects.]

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