Over the last two weeks I had the opportunity to read a book by Alex Austin called, The Red Album of Asbury Park. For my New Jersey readers, you’ll immediately recognize the name of the City by the Sea as it is listed in the title. For those of you who are not from New Jersey – hey, that’s your loss! Anyway, as the title suggests, this story is set in the heart of Asbury Park’s music scene.
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The Folks In Oceanport Have A Problem
At some point in January, the Asbury Park Press reported that the citizens of Oceanport in Monmouth County have a big problem. It seems that their Town Council was forced to do a revaluation of the township’s properties during the height of the real estate bubble. The end results? Read below…
Now, Councilman Gerald Briscione is looking into ways to relieve borough property owners. “We did the revaluation at the top of the market, but we were forced to,” said Briscione, noting that the state orders such measures and the county Board of Taxation enforces it.
Briscione said he did an analysis of property sales from November 2008 through the middle of January, and found the overwhelming majority of properties listed for sale were now assessed at 163 percent of market value.
During a time when people are looking for immediate tax relief and “change,” is there a better way to deliver it than at the local level? Coucilman Briscione understands what his constituents have to deal with better than anyone at the national or even state levels of government, so why not undertake immediate change right now? The article went on to talk about how the township is considering holding off on revaluing the properties until this summer to see if the real estate market stabilizes.
This represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what the problem is with the real estate market in the first place! The market was in a bubble because prices were inflated – dramatically inflated. Apparently values were inflated some 63% in Oceanport, but the percentages vary around the nation. Due to this inflation, many people woke up one morning to the harsh reality that the home they live in is NOT worth what they were led to believe. In other words, even if the market stabilizes, the value of these properties is not going to shoot up 63%!
The best path forward in Oceanport is to do the revaluations and put this issue to bed. If that doesn’t happen, then I have to imagine that there will be a flood of tax appeals coming in the near future.
An Update on Asbury Park’s Redevelopment
There is so much going on in the Asbury Park redevelopment that if you’re not paying attention, you may miss a whole lot. One of the nice folks at Madison Marquette (a major developer along the Asbury Park boardwalk) sent me a link to a YouTube video their firm put together that shows a lot of what is going on along the beach area.
This is a great look at all of the fun things going on in Asbury Park. Not only are there people back on the boardwalk, but businesses are back, too! Plus, they are operating year-round in some classic locations. The video is posted below for your review.
Looks like there is a lot going on over in Asbury Park, huh? Here’s hoping that more good things come to this city, which has waited a long time for rejuvenation.
Changing Names in Neptune Township…Maybe
Over the last few years I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the great folks at the Midtown Urban Renaissance Corporation (MURC) in Neptune Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. I really like this group and their bottom up approach to community organizing and rallying support for local development projects (when the projects meet the needs of the community). Plus, they’re really good people and I learned a lot working with them and I continue to learn from working with them.
Last week’s Coaster newspaper included an article that talked about how the township committee in Neptune was considering changing the name of the street where a major redevelopment project is taking place. This project is being spearheaded by my former employer as the developer in partnership with MURC as the community sponsor. The name of the street is West Lake Avenue and the idea is to change the name back to Springwood Avenue. The Springwood Avenue name is the historical street name. The Coaster article talks a little bit about the name change to West Lake Avenue…
Asbury Park changed the street’s name back to Springwood Avenue several years ago. The name was changed to West Lake Avenue after the 1970 riots in an attempt to improve the image of the area.
“I would be very much in favor of changing the name back. Historically it has always been Springwood Avenue and it has a very rich heritage,” he said.
The “he” in the quote above is Neptune Township Mayor Randy Bishop. I’d be in favor of renaming the street by its historical name so long as it is a resident-spurred initiative. If a group like MURC or a group of residents from the street come together to support renaming the block, then I think it is a win-win situation for everyone involved.
All I know for sure, though, is that the redevelopment project being built on the current West Lake Avenue is going to do great things for this area of Neptune Township!
Lighting Up the Boardwalk in Asbury Park
A few weeks ago The Coaster ran an article reporting that this is the first year in the history of the Asbury Park boardwalk where the entire boardwalk would be open for the public. Some specific information about the Christmas festivities on the Asbury Park boardwalk from the article itself:
Pike said that the original, early pavilions along the boardwalk were wood and shuttered after the summer season was over.
She said the present pavilions were built during Mayor Clarence Hetrick’s tenure and later in the decades after the great hurricane of 1944 destroyed many of the older ones.
“They were modern for their time but weren’t open for the holiday season. Walter Reade even closed the Paramount theatre in the winter despite the pipe that ran underneath the boardwalk from the heating plant at the Casino,” Pike said.
It’s pretty cool that there are historians that study this type of stuff. I plan on getting over to the boardwalk at some point before Christmas to see what’s going on and how the shops are coming along. I know the last time I was down on Cookman Avenue (which was a few years ago), many of the shops were too pricey for my taste. I wonder if the current economic climate has had any impact on the prices down that way…
Christmas ceremonies are fun and I wish that I didn’t miss the Asbury Park tree-lighting this year. I have to remember to mark my calendar to head over there next year to see the lights turn on the tree.
