Holmdel Intervenes In Suit To Build 478 Apartments In Middletown

HOLMDEL, NJ — Holmdel on Friday filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that proposes to develop 478 apartments near the Holmdel border, the township said.

The housing projects would be at 490 Red Hill Road and 1114 Nut Swamp Road in Middletown, on about 19 acres. The project would consist of seven four-story apartment buildings and parking lots.

The litigation was filed by a developer as a "builder’s remedy" action under the Mount Laurel doctrine, and it proposes a 73-unit affordable housing set-aside.

Holmdel contends it would "be negatively impacted by this high-density development proposal, considering the properties are right along Holmdel’s border and could not be accessed without crossing into Holmdel," the township says in its action.

The 490 Red Hill Road property is located directly along the Holmdel-Middletown border, which runs down the centerline of the roadway. The 1114 Nut Swamp Road property is hundreds of feet from Holmdel and cannot be accessed without using Crawfords Corner Road, half of which is in Holmdel, the township said.

“The developer’s proposal is unreasonable and violates sound land use planning,” said Mayor DJ Luccarelli. “We are committed to fighting high-density housing proposals right along Holmdel’s border that would have a devastating impact upon our traffic, infrastructure, and quality of life.”

The proposed development is behind Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on the Middletown/Holmdel border.

The developer is Adoni Property Group, which sued Middletown Township in April, accusing Middletown of not fulfilling its obligation to the state of having enough affordable housing in town, according to a Patch article on the issue.

Adoni owns four lots directly behind the cancer center on Red Hill Road, right off the Garden State Parkway. The four lots are 490 Red Hill Road, two lots at 1114 Nut Swamp Road and one lot that is technically on Dwight Road.

Currently, the lots are nearly entirely woods and empty fields. However, Adoni has plans to build seven four-story apartment buildings there, with 478 apartments total and parking lots. It would be called "The Franklin at Middletown, LLC," according to a search of public property records.

Middletown is trying to buy the land from the developer, and may use eminent domain to do so, to keep the area as open space, officials there have said.

The litigation is captioned as Adoni Property Group, LLC v. Township of Middletown and is docketed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, MON-L-1260-23.

Local Editor Carly Baldwin contributed to this report.