TINTON FALLS, NJ-Late last year, Chelsea Property Group got the borough council's approval to redevelop a 70-acre site in this Monmouth County community, and the project has just moved another step closer to reality. The local planning board has now added its conditional site plan approval for the Roseland-based Chelsea to build a $100-million, 430,000-sf, 130-store shopping complex on the tract.
But the conditions relating to the approval are many, adding up to a 27-page document. They mostly relate to satisfying a number of remaining environmental concerns, as well as to traffic control improvements to adjacent roadways, including a new $7-million access overpass. Planning board lawyer Michele Donato minimizes the list of conditions, however, terming them "a technical tweaking."
Jersey Shore Premium Outlets, as the shopping center would be called, is located between the Garden State Parkway and heavily traveled Route 66. The tenant mix would be decidedly upscale, according to Mark J. Silvestri, Chelsea's senior director of development. While no specific tenants have been announced yet for the center, such names as Saks Fifth Avenue, Brooks Brothers, Armani and Nordstrom have been surfacing during the ongoing approval process.
Chelsea officials still hope to break ground this spring and have the center ready for occupancy by the end of 2006, but that time line might be difficult to make. Besides obtaining final planning board approval relating to the various conditions, the project still needs the okay of the Monmouth County planning board. And because a pad site slated for a restaurant, as well as some of the access roads including the overpass, are actually in neighboring Neptune Township, that municipality also has to sign off on the plan.
Another possible hitch in the process is a potential lawsuit against Jersey Shore Premium Outlets. Following the planning board's conditional approval late last week, Brian Hegarty, president of the Shark River Cleanup Coalition, indicated that his group would likely file suit, citing environmental impact.
Chelsea, which operates some 60 outlet centers in the US and abroad, has two other properties in the Garden State, in Jackson and Flemington. Formerly publicly traded, the company was acquired late last year by mall giant Simon Property Group in a $5.1-billion deal.
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