What Leigh has in mind for the site is close to 2.9 million sfcommercial space, combining mostly office and retail space. A240-key, 67,000-sf hotel is also proposed for the project, which islocated near the Six Flags-Great Adventure them park.

Jackson Commons is actually a scaled-back version of an earlierproposal that would have covered the entire 1,000-acre propertyowned by the composer. That earlier proposal carried a price tag ofmore than $800 million and would have included more than 5,000homes.

The preliminary approval will allow Leigh to proceed with road,utility, drainage and other infrastructure work, according to DavidEareckson, lead engineer and a spokesman for the project. JacksonCommons still faces a long road to completion, which could takeseveral years, Eareckson concedes. The next step involvesstream-encroachment and traffic approvals from both the state andfrom Ocean County, which could take up to six months.