A plan to bring a commuter ferry to Belmar and a gleaming new facelift to the riverfront has raised both excitement and skepticism.
It calls for a year-round hotel with a ballroom, conference space and a look reminiscent of Cape May or Block Island, along with more than 900 parking spaces mostly in garages connected to market-rate residential buildings.
It also includes crowd-pleasing touches like signature places for "Instagrammable" moments, an amphitheater and a touch pool along a promenade that would serve as an extension of the one running to the marina.
Responding to a request for proposals from the borough, Wayne-based DOBCO Development pitched the plan to town leaders Feb. 4.
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One observer called it a potential "game changer" for Belmar, while critics questioned both the scale and feasibility of the initiative.
The proposed site is between Main Street and River Road from 5th through 7th avenues.
It also calls for building a new municipal building and recreation center on 16th Avenue.
The proposal appears to be moving ahead quickly.
Mayor Mark Walsifer told the Asbury Park Press Monday that DOBCO could be named the borough's redeveloper as soon as next Tuesday at the Borough Council meeting.
“I’m all for it,” Walsifer said of DOBCO’s proposal.
But not everyone in town is.
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Former Mayor Matt Doherty, who has been a vocal critic of the current administration, immediately rejected it.
“If I was still mayor, the plan proposed by DOBCO would be dead on arrival,” Doherty, now the executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, wrote in a text message. “It is way out of character for Belmar and should not even be considered.”
Walsifer added that DOBCO’s plan has the support of Borough Council and that the proposal, should it be accepted, would undergo changes. He also said that there’s work needed between naming a redeveloper and signing a redevelopment agreement.
The only other proposal came from Advanced Development Group LLC. It calls for a new 20,000 square foot municipal building, a 15,000 square foot recreation center and an eight-story residential and retail building on Main Street. The much smaller complex would be located between 6th and 7th avenues.
Decades-old plan
The plan to develop Belmar’s north end along Shark River first surfaced more than 20 years ago.
Borough officials began exploring the seaport redevelopment scheme in 1997 while Kenneth Pringle was mayor. The Seaport Redevelopment Plan was adopted in 2003 under Doherty and has since undergone amendments.
“The seaport is viewed as a mechanism to enhance Belmar’s image as a family destination and to extend the tourism season into the spring and fall months,” the redevelopment plan reads. “It is also envisioned to be a highly desirable downtown waterfront neighborhood within easy walking distance of commuter rail service and a wide range of goods and services offered in Belmar’s business district.”
Economic engine?
The one feature that has generated the most excitement and doubt is the prospect of having a New York City commuter ferry running out of the Shark River.
Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuations Group, a real estate adviser and research firm, said the ferry could dramatically change the local economy.
“The cornerstone of that plan is the water ferry," Otteau said. "And if that can actually be accomplished, it would be a total game changer for Belmar because it would open up demand from Manhattan via that ferry. And that would reorder the economic landscape of Belmar.”
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The ferry would generate higher-value housing demand and that would lead to greater retail spending, he said.
“These kinds of transportation assets can a have a sweeping effect on the character of the local community,” Otteau said.
DOBCO said in its plan that it is in discussions with Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine, a powertrain developer, to build the first hydrogen ferry service in the Northeast.
“Based on some preliminary feasibility investigations, the planned vessel would carry approximately 450 passengers and stretch 145 feet from bow to stern,” the proposal to the borough reads.
But the idea of a commuter ferry has drawn doubts from boaters in the area who know the Shark River.
The boat would have to pass under two draw bridges – the Main Street Bridge and the Belmar Bridge at Ocean Avenue.
The size of the boat needed to travel safely during rough weather may make that too tight a squeeze, said Greg Hueth, who sits on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which oversees conservation in federal waters.
“It’s going to be really, really difficult to get through those bridges,” said Hueth, who has worked on fishing boats out of Belmar. “It would be a miracle for it to work.”
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Hueth, who commutes to lower Manhattan via ferry where he owns an employment consulting firm, added that the shallow depth of the water at low tide could also pose a problem.
David DeConde, business development director for DOBCO, said the firm has worked with more than one ferry company to see if the plan is feasible.
“They investigated the depth of the channel, the width of the channel, the width of the bridge, the height of the bridge,” DeConde said. “And they think there's capacity. They believe that a ferry will be able to be accommodated by the inlet and the bridge and the access and the depth of the channel.”
The commute to New York City would take about an hour, DeConde estimated.
He declined to provide the names of the companies. But Walsifer said Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises has expressed interest.
The other problem, Hueth said, is finding enough parking to accommodate commuters.
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Neil Scheck, 61, a retired Belmar resident, also raised concerns over commuter parking.
“The idea of the ferry is exciting to me,” he said. “I just don’t want people parking in front of my house on 4th Avenue.”
DeConde said the proposal has factored in some of the commuter use of the ferry when it came up with more than 900 parking spots. He added that many of the details of the plan, like commuter parking, still have to be worked out.
“The ferry needs to be viable and people need to be able to park,” he said. “But right now we’re at the 10,000-foot level.”
Peter Reinhart, director Kislak Real Estate Institute at Monmouth University, sees the addition of the year-round hotel and conference center as a boon to the area.
“It will be a real positive mainly because there's not that many other options that are up to date,” he said.
DOBCO's proposal includes these details:
- New municipal building and police headquarters 16th Avenue & W. Railroad Avenue - 20,000 square feet
- New recreation center - 35,000 square feet
- About 68,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space
- A 100-plus room hotel
- A 15,000 square foot conference center
- Residential apartments- 136 Units
- Waterfront condominiums- 128 Units
- Senior Housing- 91 independent living 47 assisted living -138 Units
- More than 900 parking spaces in garages and on the street
Ken Serrano has been a journalist in New Jersey for more than 20 years. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com
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New plan calls for a hotel, housing and ferry at the Belmar seaport. But will it work? - Asbury Park Press
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