By KENNY WALTER
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — A pair of developers is hoping to convert a portion of Long Branch into one of Miami’s famed beaches.
Mimi and Edwin Feliciano, of FEM South Beach Urban Renewal LCC, said that they hope their project calling for 47 condominiums on Ocean Avenue, being called South Beach at Long Branch, will add to a growing stable of real estate projects along the Long Branch beachfront.
“Our project is special, it’s unique, we got some special amenities to it,” Mimi Feliciano said. “I think it looks really beautiful because it has that South Beach-inspired look to it.”
Mimi Feliciano, CEO of FEM Real Estate, which is located in Morris County’s Montville Township, first presented plans for the project in the Beachfront South redevelopment zone in 2013 and gained approval from the Long Branch Planning Board in 2014.
Because of a previous redevelopment agreement, Feliciano already secured approvals to construct 11 townhouse units on the property, but was able to acquire more properties to expand the project located on the corner of Ocean Boulevard and North Bath Avenue.
Along with the Feliciano project, several other housing projects have been proposed and approved along the beachfront in recent years after a few years of stagnated development growth in the city.
Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider said the project was the first of several to come through the pipeline in recent years.
“Mimi and Edwin are trailblazers — they are spearheading beachfront development in the southern oceanfront section of Long Branch,” he said.
Mimi Feliciano added that Long Branch’s proximity to the beach and access to New York City make it an ideal location.
“That’s what’s coming, this urban-friendly lifestyle that people seem to want that is close to New York,” she said. “They want that beautiful environment, so we all take claim to that.
“The economy is turning around a bit, finally people are getting a little bit more comfortable with the economy.”
She said she expects construction to begin on the project by Sept. 1, and preliminary sales information will begin being presented to potential buyers in October.
Edwin Feliciano said to capture the urban trend, they proposed larger spaces and multiple bedrooms for the project.
Mimi Feliciano said at one point Long Branch was not even on their radar as a place for such a project.
“We never even heard of Long Branch before a few years ago, so I think it took a few years for Pier Village to be seen and to really be enjoyed by enough people where it’s becoming exponentially more popular,” she said. “It took a while for it to become recognized.”
Mimi Feliciano said they first became aware of Long Branch from reading an ad about Pier Village and eventually they purchased a home in the city.
“We fell in love with it and decided to invest and we bought a place there,” she said. “We just love the location because we are from North Jersey, typical people go part-time down the shore because it is so close and so much fun.”
Edwin Feliciano added that it could be beneficial to your health living near the beach.
“There were a couple of articles in the paper about people living on the ocean and how their blood pressure goes right down,” he said. “It’s one of those things that happens to people.”
