Lakewood - Washington Square

APP: Yusuf Agac can see the construction of Washington Square — a luxury apartment and shopping complex along Cedar Bridge Avenue — from the gasoline station he runs just down the road. Agac, a Turkish native who manages the Singin station at Cedar Bridge and Hurley avenues, likes the idea of hundreds of new residents stopping by for gasoline and coffee...Lakewood leaders heartily agree. In fact, two weeks ago, the commercial development of Washington Square — 10,000 square feet of retail space and 10,000 square feet of office space — received a tax abatement...Records show the property is valued at $3.3 million, but that number will rise when construction is completed later this year....the complex is a step forward in the development of Cedar Bridge Avenue as an economic corridor...The township last year rezoned 51 acres across the street from FirstEnergy Park to allow restaurants, pubs, retail stores and housing. The idea, officials say, is to give baseball fans places to go before and after BlueClaws games at the park. Dov Gluck, a developer who owns most of the newly zoned land, has not yet submitted proposals, Planning Board Secretary Kevin Kielt said. Also trying to capitalize on FirstEnergy Park is the Cedarbridge Corporate Campus, a plan by Cedarbridge Development Corp. to bring high-tech jobs to an office park next to the stadium. Somerset Development has the board's approval to build three 40,000-square-foot buildings in the campus and plans to move its corporate headquarters there. "Every time you see an expansion and development . . . you're going to generate interest," Corby said. "You're going to generate traffic . . . that will spend money in Lakewood." Moses and Minna Shvarzblat have already spent their money. The couple, who own Dina's Dinettes & Leather on Clifton Avenue, is the development team behind the $10 million Washington Square development, which will include 144 apartments. The first building of apartments — monthly rents for a one-bedroom start in the $900s — is expected to be completed by May. The second building and the commercial space — which includes a restaurant, a dry cleaning shop and other businesses — should be finished by July, Moses Shvarzblat said. Shvarzblat said he is hopeful Washington Square will spur more development around him....