Boutique hotel gets full approval from planning board

Asbury Park

Boutique hotel gets full approval from planning board

'We want to keep the soul of the building intact but put a new suit on it'

By Jill Bartlett

By the summer of 2016, the long-vacant former Salvation Army building will host its first overnight guests in over ten years.

The Asbury Park Planning Board granted unanimous approval Monday to master waterfront redeveloper iStar Financial for their 110-room boutique hotel project planned for the site, located on the block bound by Kingsley, Fourth and Fifth avenues and Bergh Street.

Stonehill & Taylor architects were brought in as project designers. The firm has previous experience with historic renovation projects, which include the NoMad, Ace, Plaza and Paramount hotels in New York City.

Paul Taylor, the firm’s majority partner, provided the details of the building’s adaptive re-use to board members.

The entire palette for the redesign is taken from the existing building, he said. Materials include limestone accents, brick and new glass elements in the front and eastern side of the building. Glass in front will double the space of the existing lobby and give a transparent view; the glass enclosure on the eastern end of the building will be used temporarily by iStar as a sales office for upcoming residential waterfront projects but will ultimately be contracted out for retail or restaurant use, he said.

“We want to keep the soul of the building intact but put a new suit on it, not cover it all up,” he said.

Multiple entry points will provide ample means of egress for guests of the hotel, those who enter to use the event spaces, and member of the public who wish to venture to the hotel’s open rooftop lounge, Taylor said.

“It’s a collection of activities that make this into a destination,” he said.

Several bars, including one on the roof and another that extends from the lobby into a pool area will be added, along with a food amenity similar to Dean & DeLuca, where hotel patrons and visitors can get freshly prepared food items and beverages 24/7, he said.

“This is the trend now in the industry, what we call ‘grab and go’,” said Taylor.

A separate rooftop space on the eastern extension of the building is not programmed, but is designed as a turf or grass area and could serve as an event space or tented area for events in the future, he said.

A name has not been decided for the hotel, but building signage will be confined to the awnings on the ground floor front entryway, Taylor said.

“It makes it classy without having to shout it.”

No variances were required but the board did grant design waivers for a mews that was included in the city’s original plan for the block, which partitioned the block and did not account for the preservation of the building, and for the use of metal and glass on the building’s exterior, which are design materials that are not permitted for residential properties in the Waterfront Redevelopment Plan.

The use of metal and glass will allow redevelopers to advance and preserve the building and its historic character, but to also lighten and lessen the building’s “institutional” feel, said iStar planner Keenan Hughes.

The building was a former retirement home.

A total of 297 parking spaces will be accessible between on-site lots and street parking around the development block, Hughes said.

[Click here to access previous Sun coverage on the project.]

“We are very excited about this hotel project and what it means for the entire community in terms of jobs and new tax revenue,” said Brian Cheripka, vice president of land for iStar. “We are pleased with the planning board’s unanimous vote in favor of this much needed development and look forward to making this project a reality,”

A summer 2016 opening is planned, Cheripka said, but the timeline is dependent upon obtaining the remaining approvals from the city.

Developers seek a financial agreement with the city to ensure the projects financial viability, which may include a payment in lieu of taxes agreement.

An operator has not been announced, Cheripka said.

[Rendering of the planned redesign and Sun photos of the existing structure are below. Renderings provided courtesy of iStar Financial. Click on the photos to enlarge.]