Middletown Seeks Developers For Belford Section

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger continues to talk about his dream to one day convert the area around the Belford ferry terminal into a destination similar to Mystic Seaport, CT, South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan or Tuckerton Seaport Village in South Jersey.

And the dream may happen sooner than later: Middletown Township will be sending out requests for proposals (RFPs) for developers to build in the area by early 2018, he said. There still needs to be some further discussion between the Township Committee and the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, since they own most of the land involved, said Middletown Administrator Tony Mercantante.

"We would like to model it as a mini South Street Seaport, or Mystic Seaport or even Tuckerton, which all have an early 19th century maritime flavor and would fit really well here," said Mayor Scharfenberger in this Dec. 6 interview with Comcast Newsmakers (watch below). "We're trying to make it into a destination. We already have a ferry that's there, there's a helipad there and the train station is about a mile away. We have a lot of ways for people to get there and we feel it'd be a great destination for those outside the town and for residents."

Scharfenberger has often mentioned the Township's desire to develop the Belford area. In his vision, the family-run commercial seafood co-op that operates there now would be an anchor to the project. Last year, Middletown Township hired engineering firm T&M Associates to do a re-development study of the Belford wetlands around the ferry and Belford Seafood Co-op.

"This is probably one of the most bucolic areas in the whole Township. It overlooks New York City, across Sandy Hook Bay. Most of it is a former landfill that's been closed. It's just a grassy area that is undeveloped," Scharfenberger said. "It would probably be a mix of commercial, some boutique shops, an amphitheater. We were thinking of even something like a Cousteau center, a research center, to utilize the waterfront property there."