Fitness Center, Marriott Coming to Brick, Mayor Says

(PHOTO: The site of the former Branch Brook Pools store is being turned into a 30,000-square-foot state-of-the-art aquatic facility by Meridian Health.)

Two projects coming to Brick Township not only meet needs for the community but show there is a willingness by to build in Brick, Mayor John Ducey told the Township Council on Monday night.

A state-of-the-art aquatic fitness and rehabilitation center, and a 105-room Residence Inn by Marriott are in the works for the town, Ducey said in his remarks at the end of the meeting.

The 30,000-square-foot aquatic center, in association with Meridian Health, will have cardio machines, aquatics-based rehabilitation and an on-site physical therapy, as well as babysitting services available. It has already been approved and is under construction on the site of the former Branch Brook Pools store on Route 88, Ducey said.

The Residence Inn by Marriott is a little further off, Ducey said. The completed application, which he said includes plans for the hotel as well as retail shops on the site, was filed just within the last two weeks and the company is waiting for a hearing before the township Planning Board. That could happen in January, Ducey said. The hotel also will be on a 10-acre parcel on Route 88, he said. 

He said the plans prove that companies are willing to come to Brick and build these kinds of projects -- projects officials had been seeking for the former Foodtown site, which remains mired in a redevelopment contract. Brick officials filed a default notice against the redeveloper, M&M at Route 70 LLC, in September as the first step in terminating the redevelopment contract with M&M.

In January 2013, M&M sought to scrap plans for a hotel and conference center at the site, saying two consulting reports had found there was no market for that kind of facility in Brick because of a lack of business to support it. At the time,. Bob Smith, the attorney for M&M, said an independent consultant had said there was not enough business to make a hotel and conference center economically feasible. M&M instead proposed a 172-unit condominium complex.

“I’m happy to see our business community expanding,” Ducey said.