Demolition has officially started on the vacant stores at the Monmouth Mall as one of the state’s largest shopping destinations begins its transformation into an open-air town center called “Monmouth Square.”
Local officials, tenants and representatives of New York-based real estate developer Kushner Companies gathered at the historic mall in Eatontown on Thursday to break ground on the $500 million redevelopment project.
The event signified the beginning of the enclosed mall’s metamorphosis into an open-air destination with a mix of stores, restaurants, apartments and 115,000 square feet of medical office space. Interior hallways will be replaced by tree-lined outdoor walking paths, according to site plans.
“I’ll be crystal clear here, brick and mortar retail is not dead — boring retail is dead,” said Michael Sommer, chief development officer of Kushner Companies, owner of the mall.
As part of the transformation, Kushner Companies is tearing down the vacant JCPenney and Lord & Taylor to make room for 1,000 luxury apartments. Officials said Thursday they were working to make sure Eatontown residents get the first opportunities to live in the new apartments.
The mall’s remaining retail outlets will go through a full “de-malling” process, turning the common areas of the building into outdoor spaces. That will bring the property back to its original open-air configuration before a roof was added to the mall decades ago, Sommer said.
Monmouth Mall, located near Routes 35 and 36, opened in 1960 as an outdoor shopping center containing approximately 650,000 square feet of store space, according to newspaper articles at the time. Later, a roof was added as indoor malls grew in popularity.
The “expanded and enclosed Monmouth Shopping Center” opened in 1975, taking the mall from 50 stores to 150 and bringing the shopping center’s total size to about 1.5 million square feet of space, according to a Newark Star-Ledger article.
The redevelopment is a big change for the nearly 65-year-old shopping destination, said Kushner Companies President Nicole Kushner Meyer.
“For many of us, Monmouth Mall holds a special place in our hearts, woven into the fabric of each of our lives with cherished memories. Family gatherings at AMC on the eve of Thanksgiving, purchasing my son’s first shoes and first backpack here at Monmouth Mall. And nonetheless, getting both my daughters’ ears pierced here at Claire’s, not once but twice,” Meyer said.
Officials said they hope Monmouth Square plays an equally important role in people’s lives.
“It’s a place where families will gather, friends will reunite and new memories will be forged,” said Meyer.
Anchored by a new 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods, Monmouth Square will be a “highly curated” retail experience, the developers said. The open-air town center will offer fitness facilities, quick- and full-service restaurants, fashion stores, home goods and services.
The project also includes green spaces, a children’s park and public plazas for the community and surrounding neighborhood. A clubhouse will be located in the center of the green space for the residents to come together. It will include an outdoor pool, a reflection garden, a library, a home theater and a pickleball court, according to site plans.
Eatontown Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr., who’s in his second-term as mayor, told NJ Advance Media he understands the renovations “may seem like a radical change.”
“But it’s the direction that we’re going. I think it’s going to be great for the area,” said Talerico.
The redevelopment plan for the Monmouth Mall includes a PILOT, or payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, which provides tax exemptions to the developer in exchange for investing in improving the site.
In August, the Eatontown borough council approved a 30-year tax exemption for Kushner, according to meeting minutes.
“The PILOT actually is beneficial to the borough because we owed a lot of money and tax refunds, and the borough benefited greatly. I know some people wouldn’t see that, but I assure you, there’s no way in the world we would do it without it,” said Talerico. “Some people do a PILOT reluctantly, but this actually solves the borough’s issues as well.”
Redeveloping the mall is “what’s best for the town,” said Eatontown Councilwoman Danielle Jones, who grew up visiting the Monmouth Mall.
“I had to put my own personal feelings aside and ask, ‘What’s best for the town?’ And so that’s why I’m happy to see this come about,” Jones told NJ Advance Media.
The developer plans to tear down the vacant JCPenney and Lord & Taylor department stores one at a time, beginning with the Lord & Taylor. The company expects to start construction on apartments by summer or early fall, officials said.
The demolition will reduce the Monmouth Mall’s current 1.5 million square feet of retail space to about 900,000 square feet.
The mall will remain open throughout the demolition process. Several businesses are still open, including a Buffalo Wild Wings, Victoria’s Secret, the Pandora jewelry store and AMC Theatres.
Developers announced last year they signed a lease on 40,000-square-foot of space to bring Whole Foods to the mall. The supermarket is set to occupy a space that currently houses Barnes & Noble. The bookstore will move to a different location at the mall. The existing Macys, AMC Theatres, andBoscov’s will remain in their current locations.
Kushner Companies has almost $1 billion worth of construction underway in New Jersey, said Laurent Morali, the company’s chief executive officer. It is breaking ground on a total of 1,700 apartments in Monmouth County and overseeing building in other parts of the state, including East Hanover, Fair Lawn and Jersey City.
Kushner Companies is owned by the family of Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
