homes and buildings too close to the shoreline. But even $1 billion is
not too high a price when $20 billion—a century’s worth of fair-mar-
ket rents—are at stake.
THEBIGMAKEOVER
Sandy Hook’s quiet Fort Hancock looks like the one place northern
New Jersey’s developers forgot, but appearances are deceiving—plans
are well under way to turn time-forgotten Fort Hancock from a quiet
corner into a bustling conference center.
The developers, Sandy Hook Partners, share rent-free office space
at Fort Hancock with the Jersey Shore Partnership, which is perhaps
the biggest civic booster for beach replenishment. James Wassel, pres-
ident of the Partners and of the larger Wassel Realty, has the kind of
self-confidence that comes from a lifetime of standing in front of skep-
tical town boards and showing them plans for big buildings. A veteran
of the Rouse Company (creators of Faneuil Hall in Boston and the
South Street Seaport in New York) and commercial realtor Cushman
Wakefield, Wassel insists he is not supporting the kind of big-ticket
mall development that his résumé might suggest.
Wassel makes historically informed presentations even when his
audience is only one wet reporter with a notebook. “This property was
an Indian reservation in the early 1800s,” he said. “A lighthouse [now
the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the U.S.] was built in
- The military started using it as a proving ground for new
weapons in 1870. They used to put dilapidated ships offshore and blast
away at them to test the range and accuracy of their guns.” In the
1890s, as those guns developed longer ranges, Fort Hancock became
the first line of defense for New York City.
The fort sits on 140 acres, with 110 buildings still standing. Sandy
Hook Partners plans to spend $80 to $90 million rehabilitating the
fort properties, though its agreement with the National Park Service
means it cannot build so much as one new taco stand. Still, some of
the dilapidated buildings will become gleaming restaurants and quaint
inns, complete with manicured lawns, and some people are objecting
to it.
Greater New York 57