New 56-Unit Woodbridge Apartment Building Proposed Near Rt. 1

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — This proposal is currently before the Woodbridge Planning Board to tear down an existing motel on West Kelly Street in Menlo Park Terrace, and replace it with a 56-unit apartment building.

This latest proposal comes during Woodbridge's somewhat controversial apartment building boom, as parts of the town are being transformed from a once-sleepy suburb to a hot spot for young renters, particularly people who work in Manhattan. Meanwhile, longtime Woodbridge residents complain all the development is causing traffic and over-crowding schools. They say Woodbridge is turning into a city, which could also lead to an increase in crime.

In the proposal, a private developer wants to tear down the existing one-story motel (the Relax Inn) at 215 & 185 West Kelly Street in Menlo Park Terrace. This is a prime piece of real estate right off Rts. 1 & 9, I-287, the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.

A developer seeks to demolish the motel and in its place construct a three-story, 56-unit apartment building, comprised of 28 one-bedroom units, 26 two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units. The apartment complex will be called Amarnath at Fords.

The developer is Amarnath and the developer's lawyer submitting the proposal is Sean McGowan, of Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP. Here is the proposal before the Planning Board: https://www.twp.woodbridge.nj....

The Woodbridge Planning Board will be asked to approve the proposal at their next May 4 meeting, which will be at 6 p.m. in Council chambers in Woodbridge town hall. They are being asked to grant a variance at the site.

By Woodbridge town law, 15 of these apartment units have to be affordable housing, MyCentralJersey reported.

Just some of Woodbridge's newest apartment complexes: Vermella, On Main Street by the Wegmans, Is Now Renting (March 2022)

Avenue & Green, at the site of the old Lucas Chevrolet dealership, is already more than 80 percent rented just a few months after it opened in the fall of 2021 (March 2022)

Get great local news. Sign up to get Patch emails: https://patch.com/subscribe Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com