OLD BRIDGE, NJ — Plans have been revived for The Green at Old Bridge, a massive apartment complex of 20 apartment buildings (529 apartments total, consisting of one-, two- and three-bedrooms), plus two additional office buildings and a parking garage off Matawan Road.
The developer is Alfieri-Old Bridge Associates, LLC.
All documents and plans for The Green at Old Bridge have been submitted to the Old Bridge Planning Board, and can be viewed here. The Planning Board will be asked to approve the first phase of the project at their meeting next Thursday night, Jan. 23. It will be brought up for a first vote and public discussion at that time.
The Green at Old Bridge will be located on a 94-acre property on Matawan Road, bordering the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen. Its main entrance will be on Matawan Road, directly across from the on/off ramps for the Parkway north.
Should it be approved, this is a very big development: The Green at Old Bridge will consist of 20 apartment buildings, all of them four stories, with 529 rental apartments total. These are all rentals; it will not be an age-restricted, 55+-type community. The Green is expected to bring 2,391 new residents to Old Bridge, increasing the population of Old Bridge by 3.6 percent, according to the Community Impact Statement, which the developer was required to provide to the Township and you can view here.
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The property is expected to bring in $9.8 million a year in property taxes to the town of Old Bridge (page 14). The development will also bring more students into Old Bridge public schools. However, the increase in school students was determined to be "negligible" by that Community Impact Statement, and the amount of taxes generated by The Green will far offset any additional costs to the school district.
The Green is estimated to bring in 406 preschool-aged children and 72 school-aged children, according to predictions from the Community Impact Statement.
Of the 529 rentals, 106 will be set aside as affordable housing. Fair Share Housing, an affordable housing advocacy group, is trying to ensure that at least 13 percent (14 units) of those affordable apartments will be designated as very-low-income, reserved for households that make 30 percent or less of the New Jersey median income.
The developer also plans to construct one 4-story office building, one 2-story office building, a separate clubhouse (see renderings of the clubhouse here, page 16; it will have an indoor gym) and outdoor pool, plus a three-story parking garage and outdoor parking lots. In total, there will be 2,171 parking spaces (132 outdoors, and 906 in the parking garage, meant for the office buildings).
It is not immediately known if the parking garage will be available for use by the public.
The developer will also build one large public green in the site's western portion, several "neighborhood parks" in the site's northern portion and one "neighborhood park" in the site's southeast portion. The developer will also build sidewalks, four stormwater basins and a sanitary pump station on the property.
Here are the boundaries of The Green at Old Bridge:
Get the full proposal here: #12-2022P Alfieri-Old Bridge Associates, LLC
MyCentralJersey reports the Old Bridge Planning Board first rejected The Green in 2022; in response, the developer sued the Township in 2023. Alfieri argued the town's denial was illegal, as Old Bridge is required to have a certain number of affordable housing units in town, and The Green would have affordable housing. So, Alfieri argued Old Bridge was shirking its affordable housing quota. Such a lawsuit is what some in New Jersey call "builders' remedy" suits: Critics argue developers use affordable housing quotas from the state to force towns to approve lucrative developments. But supporters, such as Fair Share Housing, counter that it's important to have affordable housing in New Jersey.