First Look At Kushner's Plan For 1,000 Apts. At Monmouth Mall

EATONTOWN, NJ — At a special meeting of the Eatontown borough Council last week, Aug. 15, real estate developer Kushner Companies gave a rare public presentation of what they are planning to build at the Monmouth Mall.

This was the second of what Kushner calls "town hall meetings" to discuss with the public what they are planning at Monmouth Mall. Kushner Cos. was started by Charles Kushner, the father of former President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The Kushners are the developers of Pier Village in Long Branch. Charles Kushner and his wife still live in Long Branch to this day.

The Aug. 15 presentation was given by Michael Sommer, vice president for development and construction at Kushner Cos. This is what he said:

• The 1.5 million square feet of retail at Monmouth Mall will be reduced to 900,000 square feet of retail. 600,000 square feet, or 40 percent of the current mall, will be eliminated entirely. A big bulk of that would come with the closing of the J.C. Penney, which will be shutting its doors in September or October.
• The current occupancy rate at Monmouth Mall is 59 percent, with one million square feet currently occupied. 500,000 square feet of storefronts are empty and have been empty for months now. Kushner has warned multiple times it is not sustainable to keep the mall open with such a high amount of empty stores.
• In place of all that empty retail, Kushner Cos. would like to build 1,000 one- and two-bedroom apartment rentals at the mall. The new residential complex would be called "Monmouth Village."
• Many residents are concerned this will lead to overcrowding in schools. Kushner expects most tenants will be childless, as the apartments are not that big. "This is not the type of building that families with children live in," said Sommer. "We do not expect many school-aged children in these buildings."
• The apartments will be built in phases, so if there is lack of demand the project can be halted or made smaller.
• But Kushner is extremely confident all 1,000 units can be rented. "We feel strongly there is overwhelming demand for 1,000 units in the right location," said Sommer. "There is high demand for this type of product directly adjacent to the renovated retail that we are planning."
• Rental prices have not been released, but online chatter reports $2,000 - $3,000 a month.
• The apartments are described as luxury, with stainless steel appliances, high-end countertops and finishes.
• It would come with a clubhouse with an outdoor pool, a fitness center and rooms for business meetings for residents.
• None of these apartments would be age restricted.
• It will come with 1,300 residential parking spaces, with each apartment unit guaranteed a parking space.
• Kushner is currently looking for a grocery store to open a 40,000-square-feet space at the mall, to serve the new apartment dwellers.
• It would also come with an outdoor "village/public green" and the developer would also like to build walking and biking trails around it. The village green would be open to the public and could host art festivals, etc.
• Kushner envisions Monmouth Village as a new type of "town center" for Eatontown, and would love to see small businesses such as nail salons or dry cleaners to open near the apartments.
• Nothing will be taller than four stories at the property. "We would prefer to keep this site at a consistent four-story height for these new multi-family buildings," said Sommer.
• Kushner would be "open" to a suggestion to build a pedestrian connection bridge across Rt. 36 to connect with nearby shopping malls across Rts. 35/36. It would be expensive and one that would be difficult to get state approvals for, he admitted. "But we would be happy to work with the municipality to effectuate that," said Sommer.
• There are no plans to build cell towers.

The Eatontown Planning Board has yet to approve Kushner's proposal to build the apartments.

However, the town of Eatontown already declared the Monmouth Mall an "area of redevelopment" and the town actually worked with Kushner to come up with the idea of a residential apartment complex.

"This was the result of a series of discussions," said Eatontown Mayor Anthony Talerico, Jr. told Patch last month. "They (Kushner) didn't come to us and say 'Do this.' This was the result of a collaborative effort. We are currently trying to gauge public opinion on this. 1,000 units may make some people upset. But we have to create some kind of product that will yield ratables so we can collect taxes for this site."