Owner contests value set for beachfront home
Commissioners put value of home below city's offer
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

The porch of the DeLuca home has an ocean view.

A Long Branch homeowner thinks her oceanfront home is worth more than the $750,000 a court-appointed panel has valued it at.

Attorney William J. Ward filed an appeal in Superior Court last week stating that the value set by condemnation commissioners was far from what his client Frances DeLuca would accept for her Ocean Terrace home with an ocean view.

"$750,000 is just not what we are looking for," said Ward in an interview last week, adding that the amount is what he expected.

"We figured the value would come up in that area and we are not willing to accept that amount," he said.

Ward said he is now looking to have the value of the home determined in a jury trial and is expecting arguments to begin sometime in July.

Condemnation commissioners appointed by a Superior Court judge determined the value of DeLuca's property last month at approximately $25,000 less than a previous offer made by the city to acquire the home, according to city attorney Paul V. Fernicola, Red Bank.

In October, Fernicola, along with Long Branch Business Administrator Howard H. Woolley and representatives of the Applied Cos., the designated developer for the redevelopment zone DeLuca's house is located in, entered into negotiations at a private meeting.

"We had a meeting in October to negotiate a purchase price for the home," Fernicola said in an interview Tuesday.

"We were willing to settle the case for $775,000," he said.

"The owner refused to accept a price below $900,000 and negotiations broke off at that time," Fernicola stated in a press release last week.

Ward said he did not recall the city offering an award above $750,000 and declined to comment on the actual amount DeLuca would accept for her property.

"When we negotiated, Mr. Fernicola made it very clear that he wanted to keep everything confidential and said he did not want to read about the meeting in the papers," Ward said.

"Now he is doing just that," he said, adding, "He violated his own confidentiality agreement. I am not going to negotiate a figure in the papers."

Fernicola said the city is willing to waive any further proceedings in the case and will agree to pay $775,000 to settle the matter.

But Ward said DeLuca has rejected that offer and he and his client want the case settled in court.

Judge Lawrence M. Lawson appointed condemnation commissioners in October to determine the value of DeLuca's home in the Beachfront North, phase II redevelopment zone.

The commissioners are attorneys William M. Feinberg, Bayonne, and Michael Leckstein, Little Silver; and Long Branch real estate broker Stanley R. Engel.

DeLuca's property was assessed at $632,000 by a city-hired appraiser McGuire Appraisal.

According to Ward, McGuire's firm used comparable sales to the west of Ocean Boulevard to determine the value of DeLuca's home.

"That is a different area," ward said. "We are in the beach block and Mrs. DeLuca is the second to last house on the oceanfront, closest to the ocean. You can go out her door and walk to the beach and you have a view of the ocean. That translates to value."

DeLuca hired Global Valuation, Clark, for a second appraisal, which came in at $1.3 million.

The comparable sales used by Global included two sales on Ocean Avenue as well as three sales in the Elberon section of the city.

"We have received criticism for using sales in Elberon," Ward said.

"Ideally, we would have liked to use sales closer to Mrs. DeLuca's home, but the entire oceanfront is dominated by the city's condominium project," he said. "And the beach in Elberon is not as good as it is where we are. They do not have the boardwalk or the wide beach."

Fernicola said he is satisfied with the value the commissioners set for DeLuca's property.

The commissioners fixed amount is "far closer" to the city's appraised value of the property than the owner's appraised amount, he said in the release.

"The award is a clear vindication that the city's appraisal is a far more reliable indicator of the property's true value," he said.

He further stated that the city's earlier offer "reflected the city's efforts to fairly compensate property owners."

DeLuca's home lies in the three-street Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue neighborhood, known as MTOTSA.

Plans for the neighborhood call for developers MM Beachfront North, LLC - consisting of K. Hovnanian, Red Bank, and the Applied Companies, Hoboken - to raze the modest homes and replace them with a luxury condominium project.

A group of homeowners representing some 38 properties in MTOTSA are appealing Lawson's June 22 decision that gave the city the go ahead to condemn the neighborhood for the private redevelopment project.

Although the majority of her neighbors are contesting the decision, DeLuca decided not to challenge Lawson's decision. Instead, she opted to sell her home to the city and is currently contesting the value the city placed on her property, according to Ward.