Sea View Towers
An artist's conceptual rendering of what the new Sea View Towers will look like on the Long Branch beachfront.
(Rob Spahr/NJ.com)
LONG BRANCH – Over the objections of neighbors, the city's Planning Board unanimously granted preliminary and final site plan approval Wednesday night for a 120-foot-high luxury condominium building on the oceanfront.
The 12-story, 220,000-square-foot building will replace the long-vacant Sea View Towers buildings on the 3.6-acre lot along South Bath Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Ocean Boulevard.
The applicant – Sea View Towers, LLC. – plans to erect two mostly glass towers, connected in the middle with a glass lobby area, that will feature a maximum of 100 upscale residential units, a basement parking garage for up to 249 vehicles, indoor and outdoor pools and a health spa for residents and between 25 and 50 public memberships.
During the Planning Board’s roughly four-hour long special meeting Wednesday night, a trio of experts for the developer testified that while the new building would have more floors than the existing 7.5-floor towers, it would be more aesthetically pleasing, better fit the character of the community, have minimal or no negative impacts on the surrounding properties and provide a public service. The latter of which would be accomplished through the property’s owner, Daniel Cronheim, privately funding the construction of 55 parking spaces along Ocean Boulevard and South Bath Avenue for public usage.
The new towers would also have a lower density – the existing towers have 109 units – while being about the same width, north to south, and creating a better ocean view for some adjacent residents, the experts claimed.
An artist's conceptual rendering of what the new Sea View Towers will look like on the Long Branch beachfront.
Dennis A. Collins, an attorney for the applicant, called the building a “stunning project” that would be the “ultimate symbol of the success Long Branch has seen along its beachfront.”
But a handful of neighboring property owners voiced objections to the plans citing quality of life concerns, such as diminished ocean views and the potential for increased parking and traffic problems.
Albert Brown, a resident of the Newport Townhomes across Ocean Boulevard from the Sea View Towers property, said the existing vacant towers are an eyesore and he wants to see the property redeveloped, but that this plan was a “gross overreach.”
“Aesthetically it’s a disaster,” Brown said.
Another Newport Townhomes resident, Peter Zaslowe, said the new towers did not fit in with any of the successful developments already in Long Branch, such as Pier Village.
“I can’t see how anyone could look at this property and say that it was consistent with the neighboring community,” Zaslowe said. “This is significantly higher … and it will just be an eyesore.”
Mark Mauriello, also a Newport Townhomes resident, said the property’s owner should build something smaller on the land, within what is already permitted by the city’s zoning ordinances – the new high-rise needed a variance approved to be built higher than four stories. By doing so, he said, the owner could build something that would better fit the character of the surrounding area while still generating a lot of money for them and also the ratables Long Branch needs.
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“I don’t object to redevelopment. This is a great site and I’m not here to stop them,” Mauriello said. “But I think they have to be a little more sensitive to the neighbors who will have to look at this wall of glass.”
Gary Fox, an attorney representing the adjacent Horizon Townhomes’ homeowners association, argued that the Planning Board did not have the jurisdiction to hear the application because he felt the plans required the property to be rezoned. He also claimed the city really has no idea what the final building will look like because the applicant did not submit detailed enough plans.
“You don’t know if this is going to be the ‘Ugly Duckling’ or an award-winning building,” said Fox, adding the board should deny the application.
However, the Planning Board unanimously approved the application with a 9-0 vote.
Board members Eric Nathanson and Michael DeStefano said they felt the project fit in with the direction Long Branch is heading in and that its benefits far outweighed any potential negatives.
And board member Robert Layton called the new high-rise a “stellar project,” adding the neighboring residents who currently oppose the project could see their properties become worth “a lot more money” because of it.
Collins said it is still too soon to set a timeline for construction on the new high-rise to be completed, but said that it could possibly happen within the next two years.