SOUTH AMBOY, NJ-Site work has now begun on Woodmont at South Amboy, the mixed-use transit-oriented development on 15 acres in the Lower Broadway Redevelopment area here. Blighted commercial buildings will become a YMCA, 84,000-square-foot nursing facility and 86 for-sale townhomes, developer Woodmont Properties tells GlobeSt.com
“This is your poster child for a semi-abandoned industrial site right on the edge of a redeveloped downtown, near a New Jersey Transit train station,” says Stephen A. Santola, executive VP/General Counsel for Woodmont Properties. “We can completely turn it around, providing new housing for downtown.”
While multifamily rentals have been the dominant investment sector, Woodmont opted to build for-sale residences to appeal to first-time buyers. “We believe there is a market,” Santola says.
Woodmont became involved in the project in 2001, but a lengthy permitting process and the economic downturn slowed development. Now, the plan calls for mid-price townhomes in the $400,000 to $500,000 range, a YMCA that opened in 2010, and a skilled nursing facility to be constructed on the site by Venetian Healthcare, LLC. Woodmont donated a portion of the property for the YMCA for the city.
“Between the three uses, we were able to afford the cleanup of the site,” Santola says. “This needs to happen across the state.”
Demolition of the industrial buildings has begun and will last throughout the winter. Vertical construction on the nursing facility will begin in the spring. Designed by Victor Mirontschuk of New York City-based EDI Architecture, Woodmont at South Amboy will be built with sustainable features although it may not seek LEED certification.
“It’s important to clean up these sites,” Santola says.
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