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EATONTOWN - Howard Commons, one of the most difficult properties on Fort Monmouth to sell, has a buyer.

The Lennar Corp. has entered into an agreement to buy the dilapidated former military housing for $1.8 million, tear it down and build 275 new homes, add retail and a park. Lennar will invest $66 million to redevelop the 64-acre property, which has been sitting vacant and rotting since 1999.

"This is a long time coming, and I know the town was losing its patience," Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr. said in a statement to residents on social media shortly after the deal was approved Wednesday by Fort Monmouth's redevelopment team.

Talerico said federal law did not allow the U.S Army to level the homes after the fort closed in 2011, "so for many years we watched the buildings crumble."

Twice before, the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, or FMERA, entered into what it calls a Purchase, Sale and Redevelopment Agreement, or PSRA, with a developer. Both times the developers backed out over environmental issues, such as remediating contaminated soil left over from pesticides used in termite spraying.

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The sale price is considerably lower this time around. The last developer, American Properties Realty Inc., agreed to buy it for $5.9 million before walking away.

Lennar has 60 days to conduct its due diligence on the property, which includes its own environmental inspection. According to the agreement, FMERA said it may agree to knock as much as $300,000 off the $1.8 million purchase price if Lennar discovers any new environmental issues during this period.

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If Lennar closes on the property, it will be responsible for removing the contaminated soil to either an off-site location or a designated six-acre receiving parcel on the property, which it then must cap with no less than 3 feet of clean fill or hard material. The area would then be used for passive or active recreation or a small solar energy field.

Lennar also will be responsible for demolishing the 486 empty townhouses on the property, which sits on Pine Brook Road.

"This project has many layers and components. For now, this is very good news for Eatontown," Talerico said.

The proposed new development would create 275 new homes. Of those, 220 will be for-sale, market-rate homes, of which 22 would be single-family detached houses and the rest townhouses. Another 55 homes would be set aside for affordable housing, which can be developed as for-sale or rental units, at Lennar's option.

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A retail building not to exceed 33,800 square feet and two floors will be placed where the property fronts Hope Road.

Talerico said the borough also signed a letter of intent with Lennar where the developer agreed to pave the entire portion of Pine Brook Road where it is demolishing and rebuilding. Under the letter of intent, the borough also will get a six-acre park that will adjoin the ballfields behind Memorial School.

Lennar, a subsidiary of U.S. Homes Corp., is a familiar face at Fort Monmouth. The developer is constructing Patriots Square, a mixed-used development in Tinton Falls that will have 243 residential units and 58,000 square feet of commercial/retail space when completed.

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Lennar also previously bid on the Howard Commons property but lost out to another developer.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; [email protected].

MANALAPAN - A new neighborhood with townhouses and condominiums received final approval in a unanimous vote by the planning board Thursday night.

Pinebrook Crossing will be located south of the intersection of Sobechko Road and Route 527. It will contain 175 market-rate townhouses across 37 buildings and 75 affordable-rate condominiums in five three-story buildings. The townhouses will be three stories with a two-car garage and driveways on the first floor.

For every townhouse or condominium, three parking spaces are available.

The representative for the developer, Dave Fisher of K. Hovnanian Homes, presented an updated and revised proposal to the board. Throughout the meeting, three main concerns were brought up by the board and the public.

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Although not part of Pinebrook Crossing, the developers will own two large parking lots at the north end of the property. The lots are for Englishtown Auction Sales across Sobechko Road and the township requires that the applicant provide sidewalks and curbing for the lot.

“Even though this is not really part of our project, it was part of our application,” Fisher said. “It would be great for us if we didn’t have to incur that expense, but I don’t know if there’s really a way around that.”

Fisher said he was approached by the township and was told that the township is going to repave Sobechko Road at some point in the future. He said there was a possibility that his company could pay the township for the sidewalks and curbing when road gets repaved, rather than do it now.

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Board planner Jennifer Beahm was wary of such a deal.

“The question is, is (the road repaving) on the (township’s to-do) list? Because if it’s not on the list then I’m not 100% supportive of deferring improvements," she said. "So, is it on the list to be done? If it is, fine. But if it’s not, then I would recommend that they put in the improvements because it could be years before it’s done.”

Other board members agreed, concerned with the timeline.

But Mayor Jack McNaboe, who is also a board member, said, “The town will pave the entire road at the end of the project and take the money in lieu of.”

The revised site plan added three dumpster enclosures next to the condominium buildings.

Board member Todd Brown requested that one of the enclosures be moved farther from a proposed playground.

The board agreed to approve the application only with Brown’s recommendation.

The board also probed the material being used for the dumpster enclosure. Beahm was concerned that the material used could break if hit by garbage trucks repeatedly. Board member Richard Hogan said he liked the PVC material being used for the enclosure, but it needed reinforcement.

Fisher said his company was open to the idea of re-enforcing the dumpster enclosures.

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Three members of the public who live in the neighborhood south of the proposed property raised concerns of flooding.

Resident Vadym Nazarchuk noted that the proposed townhouses are elevated.

“Right now, water goes into the woods and now all water will go to our backyards,” he said.

Fisher said the drainage areas, proposed to be located between the two neighborhoods, is lower than both residential areas and “the water will flow out through our pipe” before it floods the backyards of the residents’ properties.

The board voted 9-0 to approve the application for development. Fisher anticipates construction will take two and a half to three years to complete.

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at [email protected].