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AVON – Developers plan to build up to six single-family homes on a waterfront lot at the former Shark River Coast Guard Station.
The former Shark River Coast Guard Station, originally built in 1871 and relocated in 1885, is a significant landmark in Monmouth County. Located on Washington Avenue on the north shore of Shark River Inlet, just 1,000 feet from the ocean, the property includes a boat basin and has a rich history as a lifesaving station and Coast Guard station.
The federal government closed the station in 2021, retaining stations to the north in Sandy Hook and to the south in Manasquan.
Clockworks Development Group and RBD Ventures acquired the property from the federal government’s General Services Administration (GSA) at a public auction earlier this year for $6.35 million.
The property has been rezoned for residential use and the new owners intend to build residential properties that fit into the surrounding community.
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Richard Manhire, owner of Clockworks Development Group and one of the new property owners on Shark River, told the Asbury Park Press that they want to build custom single-family homes in Avon while preserving the boating basin and respecting the character of the town.
“We’re going to build five to six homes there,” he said. “We’re going to stay pretty much true to the conforming look and feel of Avon-By-The-Sea.”
The developers have built projects in Spring Lake, Sea Girt, Avon, Belmar and Mantoloking, among others.
“We are currently working with the engineering team and the architects to figure out how many houses we can fit there. We know we can fit five, maybe six,” said Manhire.
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He added that they could easily get four suitable plots and that there was enough room at the back of the property for two more, but admitted that they were still in the conceptual phase.
“I look at this place and there’s a boat basin that’s been here since the 1930s that the Coast Guard has used,” Manhire said. “We’re big boaters and I think, ‘Wow, look at the fish here.'”
Charles Daye is the metropolitan reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: [email protected]
