The Coastal Building at 151 Bodman Place.
By BRIAN DONOHUE
When we featured photos of the Coastal Building at 151 Bodman Place in our “Where Have I Seen This” feature earlier this month, we quipped about how the building reminded of the headquarters of Lumon Industries, the fictional dystopian company at the center of the hit Apple TV series “Severance,” in which employees have their identities split in two so they can avoid the horrible reality of modern office life.
But the Asbury Park Press reported Friday on allegations of far more traditional corporate wrongdoing by the company that owns and operates out of the building alongside the Navesink River.
The paper reported on a lawsuit filed in federal court alleging First National Realty Partners, a Red Bank real estate investment firm, offered customers the chance to buy shares in shopping centers and receive annual returns of up to 9%, but instead skimmed more than half of the money for itself.
It was part of a pattern that left customers in the lawsuit seeking to recover $12 million that they invested with the company, their attorney told the paper.
“Their investments are toxic,” Mack Press, the attorney for the plaintiffs told the Asbury Park Press. “They’re never going to get their money back, and they’re never going to get the returns they were promised.”
An attorney for First National Realty called the lawsuit’s allegations frivolous and said it would vigorously defend itself. The company’s website states that it has more than $2 billion in assets and 2,900 investors.
You can read the full Asbury Park Press story here.
Have a news tip or story idea? redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
