Sayreville taps builder for former Krome site
Woodbridge firm hopes to break ground in spring ’06
BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer

Sayreville officials have selected a developer for construction of a senior community on the Krome nightclub property.

Zigga Roshanski, a partner in Continental Properties, Woodbridge, has been tapped for the project, which will see a gated community with 144 age-restricted units built on the site, which is at the corner of Route 35 and Old Spye Road.

The community will replace the building that for many years housed Club Bene, and later Krome, which was the source of controversy in recent years. The Beninato family, which operated the nightclub, allowed the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (SERA) to deem the 30-acre parcel of land a redevelopment area last year and planned to eventually shut the club down. However, Krome closed earlier than expected following the murder of Che Broadus, an 18-year-old Union Township man, outside the club in August.

As part of Roshanski’s agreement with SERA, the developer will have to tear down the vacant club building before construction can begin.

“I’m happy, of course,” Roshanski said of being named developer after nearly two years of negotiations. “This is a very important stage in the redevelopment process.”

The age restrictions will mean that the new units can only be purchased by those 55 years of age or older, with the youngest residents allowed being 19 years old.

The project, which will be called Bayview Marina, is also expected to include an adjacent 50-slip marina. Roshanski had presented two other conceptual plans to the Planning Board that called for 264 and 198 units. Both times, the board turned them down, saying the density was too high.

The 144-unit project will be built on 10 acres of developable land on the site, located adjacent to the Cheesequake Creek.

SERA Vice Chairman Renny Travisano said everyone involved in the redevelopment process is excited to move forward.

“We’re looking forward to the groundbreaking of the project,” he said. “Right now, it’s a parking lot and we’d like to see something there.”

As part of the agreement, the developer will have to repair the brick pavers that line much of Old Spye Road. Travisano said many of the bricks have been ill-kept over the years, as businesses paved over or removed some of the historical bricks originally made by the Sayre & Fisher Brick Co.

Travisano further emphasized the historical significance of the road, noting that it was part of Route 35 in the early 20th century, prior to the nearby bridge on the current highway being built.

“People going down the Shore many, many years ago had to use Old Spye Road,” he said.

He also cited the road’s inclusion in Trenton’s records as a historical site.

“And it will remain that way,” Travisano added.

Mayor Kennedy O’Brien, who also sits on SERA, said the project will serve as an attractive gateway into Sayreville from Route 35 and will help encourage private investment in that section of the borough.

As another stipulation to the agreement, those currently renting apartments on the site will have 12 months from the beginning of construction to move out.

The biggest benefits the new housing development will bring, Travisano said, will be a solid tax ratable with no children being added to the school system, as well as the removal of the Krome nightclub once and for all.

“And there will be no chance of it ever operating again,” he said, “because it will be torn down.”

Continental Properties will have to present further conceptual plans to SERA by Oct. 8, and the development is subject to Planning Board approval.

Still, Roshanski said he expects to be able to break ground by spring.

Though the project cannot exceed 144 units, Roshanski did not rule out the possibility of undercutting the number.

“One-hundred forty-four is the maximum density,” he said. “It could be even less, who knows? It depends on the design.”

Bayview Marina will be the first project Roshanski and Continental Properties have developed in Sayreville. The firm has built residential and commercial developments all over central New Jersey, including in Woodbridge, Edison and Holmdel.