Council to vote on iStar’s Boutique Hotel liquor license
City’s newest hotel/motel liquor license since 1960s
A new liquor license for iStar Financial’s 110-room boutique hotel will be voted on Wednesday by the City Council.
The city’s special development counsel Jennifer Credidio said the liquor license award is conditional, requiring a background check. Municipal background checks to investigate the source of funds used to purchase the license as well as state and/or federal criminal background checks are required.
The state’s Alcohol and Beverage Control guidelines allow for a new liquor license issuance for a new hotel/motel with more than 100 rooms but that license may only be used in connection with such an establishment, City Clerk Cindy Dye said.
The waterfront redeveloper is transforming the former eight-story Salvation Army building on Fifth Avenue at Kingsley Street into the boutique hotel and events venue with potential for retail and restaurant space, according to previous Sun news reports.
The project’s plan calls for several bars, including one on the roof and another that extends from the lobby into a pool area, according to their professionals.
This is the first time a new hotel has been developed in the city since the 1960s when the Empress Hotel was constructed at the corner of Asbury and Ocean avenues.
Unlike consumption or distribution licenses, there is no limit on how many hotel/motel liquor licenses a municipality can hold, Dye said.
Asbury Park currently has 41 liquor licenses, with two of those dedicated to hotel/motel establishments. This would be the city’s third hotel/motel liquor license.
If approved, the liquor license will take effect immediately.
The city’s Planning Board approved the site plan in October 2014. Construction is expected to be complete by summer 2016, said Brian Cheripka, iStar Financial’s Vice President of Land and Development.
Master waterfront redeveloper iStar Financial brought in Stonehill & Taylor architects to transform the long-vacant building into the 110-room boutique style hotel, located on the block bound by Kingsley, Fourth and Fifth avenues and Bergh Street. Known for their historic hotel renovation projects – the NoMad, Ace, Plaza and Paramount in New York City, their redesign introduces limestone accents and glass elements to the front and eastern side of the original structure.
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