2/26/21, Asbury Park, NJ – City Council is pleased to announce that iStar, the City’s Waterfront Master Developer, will be donating approximately 6,000 SF of land to the City of Asbury Park to become a public pocket park.
Located at the intersection of Cookman Avenue and Heck Street, the new park will serve as a passive amenity for residents and visitors as they approach Asbury Park’s mile long oceanfront. The community park will include two (2) small lawn areas, 17 trees and 280 native shrubs, as well as ornamental beach grasses and a variety of indigenous flowers (See site plan below). Construction of the park is expected to begin on March 1, 2021 aiming for completion prior to Memorial Day 2021.
“The idea of bringing new life to underutilized vacant land is consistent with iStar’s longstanding commitment to the community. Following up on our successful redevelopment of the north end of the boardwalk in 2020, our team worked with City officials to design and obtain approval to install this pocket park as an additional amenity for everyone that comes to the oceanfront”, said Brian Cheripka, Senior Vice President of Land and Development for iStar.
“We are pleased to see iStar continue to make investments in our City. At City Council’s request, they have also agreed to maintain the new park for the next five years as part of this project. The addition of green space along the Cookman Avenue corridor will provide an amenity for residents and visitors alike, and serves to further connect our wonderful downtown district to the waterfront district,” said John Moor, Mayor of Asbury Park.
As Master Developer of the waterfront, iStar has completed more than $27 million of new infrastructure improvements over the past several years, including upgrades to stormwater and sanitary sewer systems, street paving and LED lighting and installation of native beach landscaping throughout the area. More detailed information about iStar’s redevelopment efforts in Asbury Park can be found at www.asburyparkwaterfront.com.
For more information on the City of Asbury Park, visit www.cityofasburypark.com.