Plans for Kushner’s new development at 118-119 Broadway in Long Branch call for two midrise buildings with a combined 299 apartments, plus a SuperFresh supermarket and a neighborhood café. — Renderings by Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners/Courtesy: Kushner
By Joshua Burd
Kushner is set to begin construction on a project that will bring nearly 300 new apartments and a supermarket to Long Branch, helping to jumpstart the long-awaited development of a neighborhood just west of the city’s booming waterfront.
The firm on Wednesday joined public officials and its project team for a ceremonial groundbreaking at 118-119 Broadway, where plans call for two four-story buildings that will open in phases starting around late 2025. Those structures will rise on two blocks that city officials have sought to redevelop for more than two decades, only to see them sit vacant through multiple proposals and ownership changes, leaving a gap in what’s thought to be a key area between Long Branch’s original downtown and its iconic beachfront.
That’s now set to change under Kushner’s $130 million project, following its acquisition of the development sites in September 2022.
“This long-neglected and underutilized property will finally be redeveloped for its highest and best use — namely, a mixed-use redevelopment inclusive of best-in-class apartments and a much-needed grocery store,” said Michael Sommer, Kushner’s chief development officer. “This project will finally bridge the void between Lower Broadway and the Pier Village beachfront. In spite of the many challenges, we found a path to get the project on track by working hand in hand with the city of Long Branch.”
Designed by Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners, the midrise apartment buildings will have 299 homes ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, with amenities and social spaces such as a 1,400-square-foot coworking lounge, a fitness center and dedicated yoga room, a golf simulator and rooftop terraces with ocean views, among others. The first phase of rentals and a new SuperFresh supermarket will open around the fourth quarter of 2025, while the second apartment building is slated for spring 2026.
Residents, meantime, will be a short walk from Pier Village, the acclaimed mixed-use property along the Atlantic Ocean that Kushner acquired in 2014 and has since expanded. In that regard, the firm’s Nicole Kushner Meyer said the team was doubling down on Long Branch while creating “a new center of gravity” in the Lower Broadway neighborhood.
“Today is the beginning of something new and beautiful for Lower Broadway,” said Meyer, Kushner’s president, citing her family’s own history with Long Branch and the Jersey Shore. “With unique buildings lining Lower Broadway, the empty site that we stand on today is the linchpin that will connect Pier Village — with over 4 million visitors a season — to the downtown. This project will also be the beginning of new jobs, storefronts, family living spaces and revitalization in the heart of the historic downtown.
“Lower Broadway historically has played a critical role in the economic, social and cultural life of the city, hosting theaters, restaurants and other entertainment venues that attract residents and visitors alike. And today, we are breaking ground on a transformative project that will launch the next chapter of growth, opportunity and vibrancy for the people of Long Branch.”
SLIDESHOW: 118-119 Broadway in Long Branch
The development is among several in Kushner’s growing pipeline. It’s slated to break ground this year on a new 15-building, 360-unit project in Colts Neck and on its sweeping redevelopment of the nearby Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, where plans call for a modern town center with 1,000 residential units, 900,000 square feet of retail space, an active public green and pedestrian pathways.
“That says a lot about our attachment to the area and what we believe of the area, which is that we think there is tremendous growth potential,” Kushner CEO Laurent Morali said. He also pointed to the firm’s One Journal Square project, which will bring some 1,700 units to Jersey City over the next two years, while it’s slated launch leasing this spring at luxury rental properties built on former vacant office building sites in Fair Lawn and in East Hanover.
Including other projects in New Jersey and Florida, Kushner has close to 10,000 units in various stages of development.
“This is really part of a much broader strategy and a commitment to the area and to the state in general,” Morali added during Wednesday’s ceremony.
Those on hand for the groundbreaking included Long Branch Mayor John Pallone, state Sen. Vin Gopal, city council members and other local leaders. Sommer and other executives thanked the public officials for their role in the project, while also highlighting a host of Kushner team members and professional service firms involved, including:
- Pearlman & Miranda
- Murphy Schiller & Wilkes LLP
- Minno & Wasko
- Day Pitney LLP
- InSite Engineering
- Mulhern+Kulp
- KEA Engineers
- Dynamic Engineering Consultants PC
- VHB
- Cahn Communications
Gopal, for his part, praised Sommer and the development team for committing to involve nearby residents in construction and for stepping up to revitalize a neighborhood that hasn’t shared in the investments made along the oceanfront.
“This property, as it gets going, is going to play an incredible role in the rest of Long Branch,” Gopal said. “We’ve seen other communities over the last 20 years — Asbury Park, Red Bank — really progress, and this has been the piece to really unite Long Branch and make sure that we can do that.”
