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ASBURY PARK – The city is poised to say Madison Marquette, the retail developer for the Asbury Park boardwalk, is in default of contract after saying the firm failed to make necessary agreed-upon improvements and provide progress notes and financial documents.
A resolution posted ahead of Wednesday’s City Council meeting outlines a litany of grievances with the development firm, including that Madison Marquette failed to adequately maintain Convention Hall and the Sunset Avenue Pavilion. See the full council agenda at the end of this story.
It also says the real estate firm did not operate the outdoor splash park this summer, which is a popular landmark for children visiting the boardwalk.
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In addition, the documents state Madison Marquette is required to certify with the city that it maintains a net worth of at least $30 million. The city says Madison Marquette did not respond to four requests this year for the documentation, which has to be verified by an independent auditor.
Joe Maraziti, a special counsel who represents the city in areas surrounding the waterfront in Asbury Park, said the resolution was an attempt to get Madison Marquette to cooperate with the city.
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“There are a variety of remedies and it’s premature to figure out what would be the most appropriate one,” Maraziti said. “Termination is a very dramatic step, not without significant impacts — positive and negative — we would want to think about all those considerations. I hope that this gets the attention of the people who should be paying attention and that corrective measures will be instituted and we get on the right course of action.”
According to the company’s website, Madison Marquette has about 14 regional offices nationwide and manages more than $6 billion worth of property and developments. The website says the company’s redevelopment project in Asbury Park includes approximately 320,000 square feet.
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City officials have long said they wanted more improvements done at Convention Hall, one of the most iconic sites at the Jersey Shore.
Even as Asbury Park has been resurgent in the past decade, with development in its waterfront area, some of the infrastructure on the boardwalk has sat in disrepair or in need of renovations.
“This is a result of years of inaction from Madison Marquette and if we don’t see real substantial improvements to the structures on the boardwalk, it’s likely court action will result,” said Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn.
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A spokesman for Madison Marquette could not immediately be reached by the Press Monday evening.
“The resolution is pretty explanatory, it lays out what we think they did wrong,” Asbury Park Mayor John Moor said Monday. “It lays out they have a chance to tell us if they didn’t do anything wrong and they have a chance to cure it.”
Austin Bogues covers Asbury Park and Neptune Township for the Asbury Park Press. He studied the impact of cultural, social and political polarization during his 2020-21 fellowship with the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He can be reached at [email protected] Please consider supporting local journalism by purchasing a subscription at APP.com/subscribe.
Source: Asbury Park