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Long Branch — The Adam Bucky James Community Center, currently owned by the Long Branch Housing Authority, will be given to the city. In exchange, the authority will get a block of land which is slated to be used to develop affordable housing.
The Long Branch City Council introduced an ordinance to authorize the swap at its March 24 meeting.
According to the ordinance, the city will give the Housing Authority the undeveloped land on the east side of Liberty Street between Union Ave. and Monmouth Ave. (across the street from Lewis Alley and the Spanish Pentacostal Church).
The ordinance says the property is “to be be utilized exclusively for affordable housing and associated uses.” It also notes that developing the land this way will help Long Branch meet its fair share obligation for affordable housing in the city.
In exchange, the city will get the Adam Bucky James Community Center at 231 Wilbur Ray Ave., a 17,500 square foot building constructed in 2011. The building is currently subject to a lease between the city and the authority, which will be extinguished when they close on the transfer.
The exact properties the LBHA will receive are 147, 151, and 153 Union Ave.; 39, 41, 45, 47, 51, and 55, Liberty St.; 136 Monmouth Ave.; and the portion of Lewis Alley on that side of the street. The properties are described as vacant and undeveloped.
This was just the introduction of the ordinance. It will be approved after a hearing at a later meeting.
