BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
An artist’s rendering of the future site of the arts district. Broadway Arts Center LLC has gotten the go- ahead from the Long Branch City Council to revitalize the once vibrant arts district along lower Broadway.
The council adopted a resolution at its June 28 meeting approving a redevelopers agreement with Broadway Arts Center (BAC), Long Branch, clearing the way for redevelopment of a 9-acre section of lower Broadway as an arts zone with theaters, housing, restaurants and parking.
BAC was chosen to act as potential developer of the two-block zone that extends from Second Avenue to Memorial Avenue and from Union Avenue to the north and Belmont Avenue to the south.
The resolution formalizes a Memorandum of Understand-ing awarded to BAC in November.
Principals in Broadway Arts Center are the Katz and Siperstein families, who own Siperstein’s on Broadway, along with the Pereira family, which owns Pax Construction Co. on Broadway.
Todd Katz, managing partner with BAC, said he is currently discussing the redevelopment plan with business owners in the zone to see if their businesses will fit into the plan.
Several businesses may be displaced as a result of the redevelopment.
“We have just received the designation, so now we are in the process of gathering the information to determine how many properties [will be affected by the plan],” Katz said.
He added that there are very few owner-occupied residential tenants in the two-block corridor.
“No one will be displaced tomorrow,” he said.
“There will be a lot of communication to make this a comfortable transition. We will be working with everyone to find new places to relocate to.”
He added, “the area is predominantly a business district, but there is a lot of vacant space and [vacant] buildings [in the zone].”
The developers were given 120 days from the Nov. 9 council meeting, when BAC was declared potential developer of the zone, to submit plans for the area. BAC received three extensions, over the course of five months, to submit finalized plans for the approximately 725,000-square-foot project.
“Selecting the right development team to implement the master plan created by one of the county’s leading firms, Thompson Design Group, was a challenge, but one we believe we’ve met,” said Howard H. Woolley, Long Branch business administrator, in a press release.
“BAC has worked hand in hand with the city to make sure all of the community will benefit from this redevelopment of the Arts and Entertainment District.”
But residents told the council they are less than satisfied with the plan.
“[The plan] affects my property and the decision affects the entire community,” Kevin Brown, Broadway, said .
“Continue development, just do not use eminent domain.”
Brown, who has been attempting to establish a church for over a decade in the building he owns in the zone, is not the only resident who argues that the plan will not benefit the community.
“You have to stop using eminent domain,” Lori Ann Vendetti, said at the meeting.
“When do you five [council members] say no to something?” asked Vendetti, Ocean Terrace, whose home lies in the Beachfront North phase II redevelopment zone slated for eminent domain.
“You are going to take businesses to replace businesses, just like you are doing with our homes. It has got to stop.”
Plans for the zone call for the block to be anchored by two performing arts theaters along with 190,000 square feet of retail and arts space, 500 residential units, restaurants and 1,500 parking spaces.
The housing units will include 100 affordable-housing units, 56 moderate-income, 296 market-rate and 100 units for students at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, according to Patience O’Connor, of O’Connor & Company, Washington, D.C.
She said there will be a range of sale prices, starting as low as $180,000.
“We have spent a long time working to make this day happen and we have every belief that our project will accomplish all the city of Long Branch hopes for in this district,” Katz said.
The entire Broadway redevelopment zone, which extends 72 acres from Second Avenue west to the railroad tracks, is one of six redevelopment zones in the city.
BAC will develop the first 9-acres of the Broadway zone.
Mayor Adam Schneider has estimated the project will cost approximately $100 million.
Vendetti said this plan is ruining the livelihood of people who have invested in their businesses on Broadway.
“None of those businesses on Broadway will remain,” Vendetti said. “You do not like them. Sooner or later you are going to eminent domain this whole city.
“No one is safe,” she added.

