Hazlet Campus Sold By Brookdale Community College For $5.5M

HAZLET, NJ — Brookdale Community College will be looking to lease space - possibly in Keansburg or Keyport - for its Bayshore satellite campus now that the Hazlet location has been sold, the college said.

The college confirmed the sale of the Hazlet site off of Union Avenue at 1 Crown Plaza for $5.5 million. The sale was approved by the college Board of Trustees at its meeting Sept. 28, college Director of Communications Laura Oncea confirmed Wednesday.

And better access to public transportation was cited as a major reason behind the move.

"Since our earliest days, access to higher education has been a cornerstone of Brookdale Community College’s mission," Brookdale President David M. Stout said in a statement Wednesday.

He said that in the summer of 2021, the college leadership "worked with the Monmouth County Department of Planning to determine which communities in the county experience the most significant obstacles to higher education and the proximity of those communities to the college’s six locations."

Brookdale's main campus is in Lincroft in Middletown, but it has satellite locations in Freehold Township, Hazlet, Long Branch, Neptune and Wall. As of 2021 figures, the college has a total enrollment 9,566 students, 7,884 enrolled as degree-seeking; 1,682 as non-degree.

"One of the most significant findings of this study was the fact that our Hazlet Higher Education Center is located outside of reasonable walking distance and public transportation routes from northeastern Monmouth County residents with transportation obstacles," Stout said.

He said the sale would allow the college to "recommit to equitable access for the residents of the Bayshore community, especially those residents with limited transportation options."

He said the college is "actively reviewing several options along convenient transportation routes where we can relocate classes and student services."

In Sept 2016, it was reported in Patch that the college was offering new direct service to Brookdale's satellite campus in Hazlet, among other bus transportation improvements.

But the bus line in Hazlet couldn’t get off the ground due to an easement issue, Oncea said. "We were actively working on that issue when COVID shut down the conversations," she said in a statement.

The Hazlet campus will close after this semester, Oncea said. The staff of four will be relocated to the Lincroft campus. There are 101 students enrolled at the Hazlet site. Classes held there will be relocated to Lincroft as well, she said.

There is also the issue of continuing to serve area high school students enrolled in programs at the campus.

Oncea said Raritan High School has arranged transportation for their students, and the college is working with Keyport High School now "toward the same end," she said, to enable students to take courses at the Lincroft campus.

By September of 2023, the college plans to have a new Bayshore site available, the college said.

Stout told app.com that the Freehold Township and Long Branch sites are also of interest to real estate brokers: "Long Branch and Freehold are two other sites that real estate brokers are looking at. We may be interested in a sale lease back, selling and a move, or staying in the locations and leasing part of them to other entities. But the best option may be to bring in partners to lease space from us,” he said