Long Branch a New Jersey beach city that hit hard times in recent decades is getting a big boost fro

Long Branch, a New Jersey beach city that hit hard times in recent decades, is getting a big boost from a 16-acre mixed use development called Pier Village. The project is about two-thirds developed by Applied Development Company of Hoboken, and will have a total of 536 rental units, 200 condominiums, 74 hotel rooms, and 139,000 square feet of retail when complete. Pier Village consistis of a half-dozen urban blocks on the Boardwalk. Phase 2 rental units started leasing in September 2008, just as the US economy hit the skids, says David Minno of Minno & Wasko, a Lambertville, New Jersey, architecture and urban design firm. All 216 units are now fully occupied, Minno reports. “It has become an incredibly active area, not only in summer but throughout the year,” Minno reports. “The housing built to date has been all rental, which is a good thing for Long Branch, because summer condos are not occupied all year round.” The developer soon will be submitting phase 3 plans, which include 200 condominiums. Long Branch is coming back, partly because it is the last stop on a rail line that allows one-train service to Manhattan, about an hour away. The station is three-quarters of a mile from Pier Village. Ferry service to New York City is planned adjacent to Pier Village. Pier Village arose from a 1990s plan for the city by Thompson Design Group of Boston. The plan called for a mixed-use center that followed principles of New Urbanism. Minno & Wasko was hired by the developer to create a specific plan in 2004. “People in the region know this project has been successful,” Minno says. “Other developers are interested in being in Long Branch. If economic times were different, Long Branch would be popping at the seams right now.”