iStar’s Asbury Ocean Club Reaches Its Pinnacle
One to Four Bedroom Luxury Homes Will Sell For $880K To $5.9 Million
The Asbury Ocean Club reached its pinnacle last month, a distinction that was celebrated with a topping out ceremony.
According to one of the 320-members of the Sordoni construction crew, the ceremony is a historic rite of passage in the industry that represents a bow to the gods for entering into their air space. Today the tradition is celebrated by having each member of the crew sign the last beam, which is painted white, before it is set in place.
“There’s a famous expression that says 90 percent of success is showing up,” Sordoni CEO Matt Lorenzo said. “I have been here to see this team show up through the rain, watched them working in the snow and on the coldest days I’ve ever felt in this business, with wind blowing off the ocean straight in your face.”
Led by Sordoni Construction of Bedminster, construction of the long vacant site included a workforce development component that invited local construction trades ventures to work as subcontractors and vendors. More than 90 participants attended the event.
iStar SVP of Land and Development Brian Cheripka said, to date, more than 20 percent of the onsite workforce is comprised of local labor.
“This was very much a team effort,” Cheripka said. “For me, when I think about the significance of what we are doing here. For the first time in 30 years we are going to hoist an American flag over this site, and this is very much long overdue. Anyone who knows the history of Asbury Park knows this site has been an eyesore for far too long.”
The twice failed waterfront redevelopment site, set to become a 17-floor, mixed- use high rise high rise, is designed by award winning architect Gary Handel, in conjunction with lead designer Anda Andrei.
The project boasts close to 22,000-square-feet of ground floor retail space and a 54-room luxury boutique hotel, with public spaces and private amenities that include an outdoor residential lounge, screening room, fitness center and spa, business center, pool — all set above a four story parking garage. An off-site private beach club will be located on iStar owned land within the waterfront redevelopment zone, Cheripka has said.
The 130 luxury condominiums will begin on the fifth floor and feature one- to four-bedroom units; seven of which are duplex penthouses, with six of those outfitted with private terraces on the two top floors.
Asbury Ocean Club in on schedule for a Spring 2019 completion date. The units will sell for $880,000 to $5.9 million and when finished, the project will contribute about $2.5 million in tax revenue, which will represent more than 12% of the City’s total municipal tax base, Cheripka said.
iStar CEO Jay Sugarman said the topping off ceremony symbolized not only the strength of the team but also that of the community.
“It represents this marriage between the great history of Asbury Park and the exciting future that you are all a part of,” Sugarman said. “Ten years ago when we started some of these projects people thought we were crazy. This is the day we can look at that white steel beam and realize how far we have come and what we have been able to build in that 10 years. We have taken 40 years of neglect and turned it into a very exciting future for families of Asbury Park and the people of the tri state region. This is just the beginning of the great future of Asbury Park.”
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