Gale Belmar LLC awarded New Jersey Future’s 2007 Smart Growth Award

Gale Belmar LLC awarded New Jersey Future’s 2007 Smart Growth Award
By Press Release Thursday, June 14 2007, 08:07 PM EDT Views: 140
ROSELAND, NJ, -- JUNE 14, 2007 --New Jersey Future, a statewide research and policy group, has named Gale Belmar LLC recipient of the 2007 Smart Growth Award for the first phase of its $500-million mixed-use development initiative known as Belmar Seaport Village. The award was presented on June 7 at the Newark Club in Newark, NJ.

Gale Belmar LLC, a subsidiary of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, is the master developer of Belmar Seaport Village. The development of Belmar Seaport Village is managed by The Gale Construction Company LLC, which is also a subsidiary of Mack-Cali.

New Jersey Future’s Smart Growth Awards honor town officials, developers, contractors, architects, and corporate leaders who exemplify sound land use practice through the implementation of smart growth principles and the State Development and Redevelopment Plan. The awards recognize individuals, businesses or organizations with the vision to approve or build projects that resist status quo growth patterns and encourage smart growth values and designs.

“This Smart Growth Award is a great honor for us,” said Thomas Walsh, managing director of Gale Belmar LLC and president of The Gale Construction Company LLC. “As a firm, we are greatly invested in the redevelopment of Belmar, and we believe that this overall project, which exemplifies the principles of smart growth, will bring great things to the town throughout the years to come. Through our close work with the project’s architect, Newwork Architecture, and the Borough of Belmar, we have been able to plan a large-scale project that truly showcases sustainable design at its best.”

Gale Belmar LLC received approvals for the first phase of the redevelopment project – 800 Main Street, which has been named East Light – in February 2007. East Light will encompass 38 new condominiums/townhouses, 9,500 square feet of ground floor retail space and 76 covered parking spaces.

The development of Belmar Seaport Village has been a model public/private partnership with an open and community-led planning effort to obtain consensus on the needs and goals of the entire Belmar community. Gale Belmar has held several public design workshops that have led to the adoption of the Belmar Seaport Village Design Guide, which will govern all future development in this redevelopment area. Additional forums have resulted in: a Green Design program to ensure economic, social and environmental sustainability of the town; a Retail Master Plan to create a year-round shopping destination; quality streetscapes, pocket parks and green roofs that add to the quality of life of Belmar residents; and an in-depth analysis of traffic, parking and utility infrastructure.

In addition, Belmar has embarked on a town-wide Sustainability Plan to ensure the long-term economic, cultural, and environmental viability of the community. At the heart of this is The Seaport Redevelopment Plan, which will strengthen the town’s tax base, build upon New Jersey’s Smart Growth strategy and preserve and improve the natural environment of Belmar and the region.

Sustainable design is one of the most notable features of Belmar Seaport Village. Key sustainable design principles will include more efficient use of previously developed land, reducing automobile dependence, increasing pedestrian activity, improving interior and exterior air quality, decreasing storm-water run-off and reducing the use of limited natural resources. These standards are designed around the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System, the nationally recognized industry standard for sustainable building.

For more information on Belmar Seaport Village, visit www.belmarseaportvillage.com.