Jones Lang LaSalle

Hovnanian Proposes 151-Unit Townhome Community
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 3, 2006 10:28am

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SOMERVILLE, NJ-K. Hovnanian Enterprises has unveiled plans for a 151-unit townhome community for an 11.23-acre site here. Termed “conceptual plans,” the proposal has been filed with this community’s planning board.

If approved, the project would rise on the Kirby Avenue site once occupied by Baker & Taylor Inc. The distributor of books, videos and music products relocated its regional service center to nearby Bridgewater a few years ago.

According to reps of the Red Bank-based Hovnanian, their plans call for a three-story building configured either as standard townhouses or stacked townhomes. The plan also calls for nearly 400 parking space and Hovnanian also proposes to extend three adjacent streets to accommodate additional traffic flow.

Company officials also say they’re preparing to formally present plans for board approval, but have not indicated a target date. Final approval would also require an application for rezoning to allow for 13.44 units per acre. The site is presently zoned for 12 units per acre.

The project would also require Hovnanian to buy the site from its current owners, Kirby Avenue Realty, a local group. According to borough records, the undeveloped site currently generates just under $161,000 per year in taxes. Borough officials project that if developed according to Hovnanian’s conceptual plans, the tax take could rise to $1.2 million per year.