Crumbling Sandy Hook Fort Hancock Officers' Row homes doomed? Apartment plan in trouble

After hitting a funding wall last year, the proposal to redevelop Fort Hancock’s stately but crumbling officers’ homes at the northern end of Sandy Hook into 80-plus apartments is hanging by a thread.

Meanwhile, a plan has been hatched to convene an all-hands-on-deck symposium to find a solution for the future of the historic buildings.

On Monday Jen Nersesian, superintendent of Gateway National Recreation Area, said “I don’t see what the light is at the end of the tunnel” regarding the proposal by New York-based developer Stillman International to repurpose 21 buildings from the long-closed fort.

The initiative is part of the National Park Service’s leasing program, which attempts to reuse the historic structures creatively in a public-private partnership. In November, after completing the design process on two prototypes, Stillman raised the estimated price tag for the entire project to $100 million — which is $50 million more than it is willing to invest.

On Monday, speaking to the Fort Hancock 21st Century Federal Advisory Committee, Nersesian said she’s been beating the bushes for federal funding to close the $50 million gap — to no avail.

“We have continued to have conversations with colleagues in Washington and not surprisingly, there is no major funding source out there that is going to cover this kind of gap from the federal government end,” she said.

Nersesian noted that Stillman International is willing to proceed with the project on a phased basis — incrementally, as funding becomes available. But “even to move forward on an incremental basis we need a financial plan; we need to know what financing is available when,” she said. “We don’t have that financing plan yet, and we may wind up with the conclusion that there is not a viable pathway for it.”

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Stability work underway

For now, Nersesian said, a multipronged effort is underway to stabilize the buildings and avoid their collapse. A $3 million project to put new roofs on 15 of the buildings, funded by the National Park Service, is nearing completion and “those roofs are looking really good,” Nersesian said.

“We took on roofs because without roofs, we are going to lose the rest of the building,” she said.

Next up is masonry work on those buildings “with the bricks that have been falling,” she said.

“We are proposing from the Park Service end to move forward doing masonry work with as many buildings in that same grouping as our funding will allow,” Nersesian said. “We’re pulling in another $2 to $3 million investment starting in the coming year to focus on masonry.”

After that, she said, “we think windows and porches would be the next priorities — again focusing on sealing those buildings up, the building envelope, to buy ourselves time to look at other kinds of investment.”

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Symposium in the works

In light of the possible need for a total reset, the Sandy Hook Foundation — the official nonprofit friends group to the National Park Service at Sandy Hook — is looking at holding a one-day symposium on the matter in August or September.

“The Sandy Hook Foundation is proposing creating what we’re calling the Fort Hancock Symposium,” foundation board of trustees chair Peter Izzo said Monday. “It’s essentially a daylong event that would bring together all parties who might have an interest in developing solutions for Fort Hancock.”

The symposium would include participation by representatives of the National Park Service, federal and state legislators, local officials. interested local nonprofits and grant organizations, among others.

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“Importantly, we’d like to include professional consultants who specialize in this kind of work, and also who specialize very specifically in projects like this at National Park Service units around the country,” Izzo said.

The goal, according to Izzo: “How can we stabilize these building so we can preserve them for the enjoyment of visitors for generations to come?”

That’s the thrust of the leasing program, and there have been some success stories. Seven Fort Hancock buildings are currently leased, including McFly’s On The Hook café and the Mule Barn Tavern. Four others are in the works, including one for a bar/restaurant/event space at the fort’s former YMCA.

But the scale of the Stillman proposal is different and was met with some objections from the beginning. Now that it’s hit a roadblock, at least one Fort Hancock 21st Century Federal Advisory Committee member wondered aloud Monday whether it's worth holding out for funding when the Officers’ Row homes could be leased piecemeal like the others.

“I don’t know if it’s a wise business decision to tie up a large parcel of assets that we can’t put out on the market,” Patrick Collum said.

Nersesian responded by urging patience.

“It took us years … to get anyone with (Stillman’s) level of interest, so I don’t want to turn away from that prematurely,” she said. “At some point we’ll have to face, if there is no other investment to bring into this, that the model isn’t workable. In that case, I don’t know if it’s workable for any investor with the program as it is.”

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Sandy Hook Fort Hancock Officers' Row apartment plan in trouble