Long Branch apartments, stores get initial OK for North Broadway

LONG BRANCH – A developer is looking to build a mixed-use apartment building on a vacant lot at the end of North Broadway. The location is two blocks east of Kushner Cos.’ lower Broadway properties, where Kushner is building 299 apartments, a grocery market and neighborhood café. Kushner broke ground on the $130 million project earlier this month.

Gio Associates LLC, purchased the 0.3 acre lot at 83 North Broadway four years ago in April 2020 for $470,000, according to Monmouth County property records. The limited liability company is based in Cresskill.

The property is in a neighborhood of light industry and commercial uses, as well as residences. It is adjacent to Solio’s Millworks, which specializes in finished lumber, and across the street from the CVS Pharmacy.

Gio is proposing to build a four-story building with 1,124 square feet of ground-floor retail. There will be 12 residential units among the second, third and fourth floors. The units will be made up of three one-bedroom units and nine two-bedroom units.

At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the city designated Gio Associates a conditional redeveloper for the property since it lies in the Broadway Gateway redevelopment zone, established in 1996. The city’s goal in the zone is to surround commercial, retail, service and light industry uses around middensity residential such as apartment buildings. The conditional redeveloper designation means the city can begin preliminary negotiations with Gio Associates, with the end goal of entering into a formal redevelopment agreement, At this point the city will begin review of the project specifications. The city has said it will not consider any tax exemptions on the project.