FROM THE ASBURY PARK PRESS (Gannett Co., Inc.)
September 21, 2006
JOHN VANDIVER/TOMS RIVER BUREAU
LAKEWOOD -- Mark Goodman, owner of a health food store on Clifton Avenue, has visions when he looks across the street to Lakewood's quaint town square.
What he imagines on that spot is a downtown high-rise building with a parking garage inside.
"We don't need "pretty' here. We need parking," Goodman said. "The No. 1 complaint down here is no parking. It's a popular opinion among businesspeople."
While a garage on top of the town square may be a pipe dream, a garage nearby -- the result of a land swap with a downtown businessman -- may be an attainable goal.
Ben Heinemann, owner of BP Graphics at 315 Fourth St., has a plan to build a five-story commercial complex across the street from his current location. It would include a 207-space parking garage inside. The complex would replace the 55-space township parking lot at that site.
"It started with me wanting to add on to my property. Then the township heard about what I wanted to do and approached me about swapping," Heinemann said.
While the project is still in the discussion phase, Heinemann hopes to break ground by winter.
"As soon as we can get the approvals, I'm ready to go," Heinemann said.
Township Committeeman Raymond Coles first approached Heinemann about the swap 18 months ago.
"The township has been trying unsuccessfully for some time to have a multilevel parking garage built," Coles said.
The estimated price tag for the complex, with the retail and office space, is $13 million. Under the proposal, the township would pay for the municipal parking lot portion of the project. The price tag for the garage has not been determined, Heinemann said.
The township would provide its share through the Lakewood Development Corp., Coles said. There would be no fee to park in the garage, he said.
Heinemann's business is behind the Strand Theater. BP Graphics' initial expansion plan would have shut off access to the Strand Theater loading dock, Coles said. To access the loading dock, Heinemann's property must be crossed.
"We see it as solving long-standing problems with access to the (Strand) building," said Russell K. Corby, executive director of the Development Corp., which owns the theater.
The garage also would provide convenient parking for theatergoers in the evening, Corby said.
It's unclear what the township would do with the BP Graphics building behind the Strand, though. One option is to tear it down and provide even more parking, Coles said.
The project falls within the boundaries of Lakewood's Urban Enterprise Zone, which is managed by the development corporation. The agency recently voted to have Heinemann pursue a final proposal.
The building design calls for a little more than 22,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor. BP Graphics would occupy one of the storefronts and the others would be leased out, Heinemann said. On top of the retail space would be three floors of parking with office space on top of that.
"Parking has been a problem downtown as long as I can remember," Heinemann said.
Goodman said he was happy to hear about plans for more parking.
"If they leave it open to everybody," he said, "I'm for it."