Two Nobility Crests: One Approved in Brick, One Approved in Toms River

Toms River and Brick townships will have something in common: each town approved a development called this year, with each project creating controversy.

Nobility Crest LLC is overseeing both projects. Brick's was approved by its planning board this week, while the proposal for Toms River was approved back in March. The two sites are about six miles apart when traveling Route 70.

The Toms River site is just north of Cox Cro Road, along Route 9. It includes the construction of a 53,000-square-foot shopping center, two 25-unit apartment buildings and 200 townhouse units.

The Toms River project brought out residents' concerns of child/pedestrian safety and traffic. The development could create pedestrian traffic on Route 9, as students make their way to the nearby residents said.

Brick's Planning Board approved the construction of Nobility Crest, a mixed-use commercial and residential development that will be built in an area behind the off Chambers Bridge Road.

The Brick development will include a total of 214 housing units, said Mike Fowler, Brick Township Planner. Of those units, 170 will be two styles of townhouses, with an additional 44 apartment unit built on top of 20,000 square feet of commercial space.

"That will tie into the ShopRite-Kohls plaza that's right next to it," Fowler said, of the commercial space.

The Brick development will not be age restricted, but "age targeted," Fowler said, meaning the developer, Nobility Crest LLC, will market units to certain age groups.

"They're targeting empty nesters, or the newly married people or singles who aren't looking for the big house or the big yard," said Fowler.

The will not include designated affordable, "Mount Laurel" housing, Fowler said.

The approval of the development comes several months after a judge between the township and the developer following rounds of legal negotiations.

Nobility Crest's owners had sued the Brick, seeking to lift the age restriction under a state law that allows developers to drop age restrictions if a piece of land cannot realistically be developed with the restrictions in place. The Brick township council voted on Feb. 15 to enter into a consent decree with Nobility Crest which lifted the age restriction but limited the residential complex to 214 housing units. Previously, the developer sought to include 300 units. Had Nobility Crest won its lawsuit, the complex could have been built with the 300 units unrestricted.

"It took a long time, but it was finally approved, and hopefully it will be a nice project," Fowler said.

Though approved in March, Toms River's Nobility Crest has yet to break ground.

An existing Nobility Crest in Ocean Township, Monmouth County, is off of Cedar Village Boulevard and Route 66. It's comprised of condominiums advertised as starting at "the $200,000s."