EATONTOWN - Howard Commons, one of the most difficult properties on Fort Monmouth to sell, has a buyer.
The Lennar Corp. has entered into an agreement to buy the dilapidated former military housing for $1.8 million, tear it down and build 275 new homes, add retail and a park. Lennar will invest $66 million to redevelop the 64-acre property, which has been sitting vacant and rotting since 1999.
"This is a long time coming, and I know the town was losing its patience," Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr. said in a statement to residents on social media shortly after the deal was approved Wednesday by Fort Monmouth's redevelopment team.
Talerico said federal law did not allow the U.S Army to level the homes after the fort closed in 2011, "so for many years we watched the buildings crumble."
Twice before, the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, or FMERA, entered into what it calls a Purchase, Sale and Redevelopment Agreement, or PSRA, with a developer. Both times the developers backed out over environmental issues, such as remediating contaminated soil left over from pesticides used in termite spraying.
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The sale price is considerably lower this time around. The last developer, American Properties Realty Inc., agreed to buy it for $5.9 million before walking away.
Lennar has 60 days to conduct its due diligence on the property, which includes its own environmental inspection. According to the agreement, FMERA said it may agree to knock as much as $300,000 off the $1.8 million purchase price if Lennar discovers any new environmental issues during this period.
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If Lennar closes on the property, it will be responsible for removing the contaminated soil to either an off-site location or a designated six-acre receiving parcel on the property, which it then must cap with no less than 3 feet of clean fill or hard material. The area would then be used for passive or active recreation or a small solar energy field.
Lennar also will be responsible for demolishing the 486 empty townhouses on the property, which sits on Pine Brook Road.
"This project has many layers and components. For now, this is very good news for Eatontown," Talerico said.
The proposed new development would create 275 new homes. Of those, 220 will be for-sale, market-rate homes, of which 22 would be single-family detached houses and the rest townhouses. Another 55 homes would be set aside for affordable housing, which can be developed as for-sale or rental units, at Lennar's option.
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A retail building not to exceed 33,800 square feet and two floors will be placed where the property fronts Hope Road.
Talerico said the borough also signed a letter of intent with Lennar where the developer agreed to pave the entire portion of Pine Brook Road where it is demolishing and rebuilding. Under the letter of intent, the borough also will get a six-acre park that will adjoin the ballfields behind Memorial School.
Lennar, a subsidiary of U.S. Homes Corp., is a familiar face at Fort Monmouth. The developer is constructing Patriots Square, a mixed-used development in Tinton Falls that will have 243 residential units and 58,000 square feet of commercial/retail space when completed.
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Lennar also previously bid on the Howard Commons property but lost out to another developer.
When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; [email protected].