EATONTOWN, N.J. — CarMax and self-storage facility CubeSmart on Route 36, along with 145 age-restricted single-family homes off Monmouth Road, will replace the links at the Old Orchard Country Club.
At an upcoming meeting, the borough Planning Board is set to finalize its approval of a proposal by Surrey Equities LLC to redevelop the 18-hole golf course, a 136-acre plot that was designed by famed architect A.W. Tillinghast and opened in 1929.
The project culminates years of efforts to build on the property. More than 15 years ago, a proposal to build 700 homes and 535,000 square feet of retail disintegrated after opposition from Eatontown officials, as well as from neighboring Oceanport, West Long Branch and Monmouth County freeholders.
In 2013, Eatontown Ventures sought to purchase the property to build 175 age-restricted townhomes plus 450,000 square feet of commercial space on the Route 36 boundary. A second proposal was to build a 450,000-square-foot commercial complex on 60 acres of the property and preserve the remaining 75 acres. Those plans were denied because commercial uses are not permitted on the property.
The township’s zoning rules only allowed 129 single-family homes or a golf course.
Last year, the Borough Council approved new zoning to allow commercial development along Route 36 but would secure 100-foot buffer zones between existing residential homes that border the course and 145 new age-restricted single-family homes that a developer is planning to build.
Surrey Ventures, a contract purchaser, later filed a plan to build its project: 145 age-restricted single-family homes and an 8,316-square-foot clubhouse, a CarMax used car and truck sales and service facility, and a CubeSmart self-storage facility. A 35-acre parcel on the property will remain wooded and undeveloped as dedicated open space.
According to documents filed in Borough Hall, the CarMax will be 7,694 square feet and include a 936-square-foot associated carwash, fuel dispenser and sales staging area. Currently, CarMax has stores in Edison, Green Brook, Maple Shade, Sicklerville and Wayne.
Plans call for a 33,780-square-foot three-story building for CubeSmart self-storage. It will have 101,340 square feet of floor space and 1,200 square feet of office space.
David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business, retail, real estate and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for 27 years. He writes APP.com’s What’s Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com.