Bond Street buildings to be rehabilitated
Discussion prompts some controversy from nearby biz owners
Two adjacent buildings on Bond Street are proposed to be rehabilitated soon, but discussion of the project at the planning board meeting Monday night prompted some controversy. The board did unanimously approve the application.
The buildings at 205 and 209 Bond St. [shown above] between Cookman and Mattison avenues are owned by Karina Bilger. Attorney Mark Steinberg and architect Eric Allen Cohen appeared before the Asbury Park planning board to present the applicant’s case.
About two years ago, Bilger received approval to construct a new four-story building on the site. Due to the economy, the project has been scaled down, Steinberg said. The project has now been divided into several phases, with phase one being the rehabilitation of the buildings, which includes maintaining the original building shells. The developer expects to demolish the buildings eventually and rebuild a 4.5-story structure.
In the first phase of the project, the improvements will consist of rehabilitating the commercial space on the first floor, and the corresponding residences on the upper floors. One building has two stories, while the other has three. An alleyway runs between the buildings and out to the parking lot north of Johnny Mac’s on Main Street.
The owner has not yet determined what type of tenant she will have in the two retail spaces on the first floor of 205 and 209 Bond St., Cohen said, although the possibilities range from retail store to a café or restaurant.
Both buildings are currently vacant, Cohen said. One was previously an office and the other was a mosque.
“We’ll replace the windows where necessary, clean up the arches and articulate the existing façades,” Cohen said.
As far as the residential, the new design will provide loft apartments and a two-bedroom unit, Cohen said. The central business district redevelopment plan requires that new residential spaces either provide 1.5 parking spaces per unit, or pay $11,000 per space to the parking authority. The developer is opting for the latter, which totals $49,500.
After Cohen’s testimony, some controversy over the gate blocking the alleyway between the buildings erupted. Michael Sodano, co-owner of The Showroom movie theater, asked Cohen what the developer will do about the gate currently blocking the alley.
“Our intentions are to completely open that up [and] encourage traffic and usage,” Cohen said. “That gate shouldn’t really be there. There is an issue of fire safety egress so all those buildings [fronting on the alleyway] have to be able to discharge their occupancy.”
Later in the meeting, other area business owners expressed further frustration over the gate, saying another business owner had installed it without permission.
Bess McCarthy and John McCarthy brought up another issue. A water main flowing under their property at 701 Cookman Ave. provides 205 and 209 Bond St. with water — meaning the McCarthys have to bill the tenants at those buildings for their monthly water supply.
“I want to make sure when they do those projects that the water lines are separated,” Mr. McCarthy said. “It’s silly to have a water main running through my property and have to bill [other property owners] monthly.”
Planning board attorney Jack Serpico said this matter was out of the planning board’s jurisdiction and should be settled privately between the parties involved.
