Jayeff's task is to redevelop the 9.3-acre vacant former junkyard operated by Wall Auto Wreckers in the West Belmar section of this Monmouth County township. The former junkyard was condemned late last year under the township's West Belmar Gateway Area Redevelopment Plan. The larger plan, according to township officials, is to upgrade West Belmar's retail environment, and the redevelopment plan designation for the area carries with it some tax breaks and expedited zoning.

What Jayeff has in mind, according to company president Jack F. Zoller, is a lifestyle-type center of approximately 160,000 sf. Target tenants include an upscale apparel store, a family-style restaurant and a health spa and salon, according to Zoller. The largest tenant in the complex would be in the 40,000-sf range, according to general plans laid out by Jayeff. Besides the retail stores, provision would be made for offices on the second floor of the building.

The proposed center, which has not been named, would feature a Colonial-style design, and it will be pedestrian-friendly. "We do not want this shopping center to look like a typical strip shipping center," Zoller says.

According to Zoller, his company is also negotiating with several single-family property owners on lots bordering the former junkyard, which fronts Route 71 here. The acquisition of the lots would add a total of another half-acre to an acre to the redevelopment site.

Jayeff's nod as designated developer carries with it a 150-day period during which the company will market the site to potential tenants. At the conclusion of that period, a formal proposal will go before this township's planning board for its approval. No specific time line has been outlined for the project yet, pending further approvals.