Owner: Oceanport Village Center Construction '50 Percent' Complete

By Christopher Sheldon

Construction of the Oceanport Village Center on East Main Street is about 50 percent complete according to owner Victor Gourkanti.

"We expect to be done in January or February," Gourkanti said.

He said the north building has been closed off and that installing utilities is the current goal for that project and that the south building, closer to Port Au Peck Avenue, should be closed off in another two weeks.

The Oceanport Village Center will be the home of commercial space on the first floor and residential space on the second floor and half story above.

Gourkanti said none of the commercial space has been rented out at this point.

"Right now we just get solicitations from people asking if the space is available," he said. "We haven't hired any real estate company to market it yet. We're not at this stage at this time."

He said the two perspective tenants are a bank and convenience store, but that the other space has not yet been decided.

The commercial space will also feature at least one restaurant.

There will also be 36 residential units; 18 1-bedroom units, 9 2-bedroom units and 9 3-bedroom units. Nine of those units will be set aside for affordable housing, Gourkanti said.

Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon has said the construction of the Oceanport Village Center is the latest step to the revitalization of the borough's downtown area and that it will tie into new projects being undertaken by Monmouth Park which include a boardwalk pavilion, an open festival area, a hotel and a waterpark.