1,000 Apartments Considered At Monmouth Mall, J.C. Penney Closing

EATONTOWN, NJ — The J.C. Penney at the Monmouth Mall will likely close sometime before the end of 2022. It may close in October.

Monmouth Mall is owned by Kushner Cos., which is about to embark on a massive overhaul of the mall, with plans to make the mall footprint much smaller and add 1,000 apartments there.

Kushner Cos. would like to build 1,000 one- and two-bedroom apartments at the mall, said Eatontown Mayor Anthony Talerico, Jr. The new residential complex would be called "Monmouth Village" and Kushner would also like to build walking and biking trails around it.

"This was the result of a series of discussions," said Talerico. "They (Kushner) didn't come to us and say 'Do this.' This was the result of a collaborative effort."

As Patch previously reported, in 2021 the town of Eatontown declared the mall "an area in need of redevelopment." Eatontown is in the midst of creating a redevelopment plan for the mall, which will very likely allow for residential housing.

Eatontown has yet to approve the apartments. All building heights will be capped at four stories, or 52 feet. Talerico will hold his fifth and final town hall meeting on the proposal this Wednesday night at Eatontown boro hall. There will also be a public discussion on this proposal at the July 27 Eatontown council meeting. A Kushner representative will be there.

"We are currently trying to gauge public opinion on this," said Talerico. "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."

The Eatontown town Council already expressed that it would be OK with residential housing at the mall: In 2018, the town approved Kushner's request to build 700 apartments at the mall, but there was significant push-back from residents who lived nearby. One of the concerns was that those apartment buildings, at more than 80 feet, would be too tall.

So the proposal was tabled.

There was also a plan to build outdoor pedestrian corridors and outdoor plazas at the mall, but that idea too was shelved by the developer.

"We haven't backed away from (the idea of residential apartments)," Michael Sommer, vice president for development and construction at Kushner Cos., told Patch earlier this year. "In the current environment of retail, we need to figure out what the highest and best uses for the mall are. In terms of our overall vision (for Monmouth Mall), we foresee a significant redevelopment for the remaining retail and other businesses on site."

"As you are aware, there are many vacancies at the mall," he said.

Also, Kushner plans to tear down the mall's multi-story parking garage and replace it with a flat parking lot, which will will accommodate much fewer cars: The number of parking spaces will be reduced by 638 spaces.

The reduced amount of parking matches with the reduced amount of stores inside the mall: Monmouth Mall currently has so many empty stores inside that the mall's total square footage has dropped by 25,000 square feet.

And finally, this summer RWJBarnabas opened a massive, two-building medical facility at the mall. It is the Anne Vogel Family Care and Wellness Center and it opened in July. The center offers a range of healthcare services.

It is located next to the Boscov's and will have pediatric offices for children, women's health and urgent care. Construction is nearly complete.

Kushner Cos. was started by Charles Kushner, the father of 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.

According to this report in The Real Deal, Monmouth Mall used to be co-owned by both Brookfield Properties and Kushner Cos. However, the two developers defaulted on a loan payment at the start of the pandemic, when all businesses in the state were forced to shut down, which put the entire mall at immediate risk of foreclosure. But then Kushner purchased a $110 million loan for the property at auction, saving the mall and becoming its sole owner.