Wave of change hits Asbury's waterfront
Posted by The Asbury Park Press on 6/12/2007
By Nancy Shields
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU
ASBURY PARK — Asbury Partners and Madison Marquette closed Monday on their joint venture agreement to restore and build a new entertainment and retail sector on the city waterfront.
Hugh Lamle, president of M.D. Sass, the lead investor in Asbury Partners, and Gary Mottola, managing director of investments for Madison Marquette, would not provide details of the companies' financial arrangement.
But they made it clear that Asbury Partners will remain a partner with approval powers over plans and budgets, that Mottola will be the managing partner, and that his national retail company would be bringing $150 million to $200 million into the development.
The partners spoke of this year's progress and what's coming at a meeting with the Asbury Park Press editorial board at the Paramount Theater on Ocean Avenue.
Mottola said when his company began to move beyond the concepts stage earlier this year, he wanted to put the Paramount to the side.
"When I first looked at this (the theater), I was going to mothball it," Mot-tola said. "Who knows how long it will take? We were going to put it off to the side but every time I walked in, I said this was too gorgeous."
Now the theater is being restored with approvals from the state historic preservation office, and an opening with a play by New Jersey playwright Ben Clausen is planned for June 28. Metro Lyric Opera will follow soon after along with a full summer schedule to be announced.
Madison Marquette took on renovating the old Howard Johnson's restaurant in the Fifth Avenue Pavilion into the new Salt Water Beach Cafe, which opened Memorial Day weekend. Mottola said the project was completed in 49 days.
And, he said, Asbury Partners, the city's master redeveloper for nearly six years, agreed to accelerate repaving work and improve the medians on First and Second avenues.
The next steps, Mottola said, will be to finish the second floor of the Fifth Avenue Pavilion by September so that it can be used for weddings, parties or public events to draw people to the beachfront year-round.
David Rockwell, a New York architect, is designing the pavilions, both new and rebuilt ones. There will be six in all on the boardwalk.
Mottola said plans call for using the green spaces between the pavilions for special entertainment attractions, such as an observation tower with a water slide, miniature golf, a Ferris wheel or a carousel.
Hotel, more parking
And investors plan on building a 25-story hotel in the entertainment sector by Wesley Lake. There are plans to create an additional 1,000 parking spaces beyond the number originally planned. Many of these could be in new condominium buildings, and the partners will talk to city officials about allowing taller buildings to make up for space used for parking.
"We will be going into negotiations soon," said Deputy Mayor James Bruno a few hours before the editorial board meeting. "We're going to negotiate a global settlement for all of the issues that are out there."
Some of the plans will involve amending the waterfront redevelopment plan.
Lamle described the plans as a "major revamp of what we originally agreed to do," adding that Asbury Partners "couldn't provide any assurances in 2001" of what was coming because they did not yet have a national retail developer on board.
Mottola said the Casino, the eastern portion of which is being rebuilt in its historic shape, will be a "festival public market" on the first floor but could have a second floor with musical venues. The Casino will be completed by 2010, he said.
He added that he had decided whether The Stone Pony will relocate, but said the landmark music club will definitely be a part of the entertainment venue. A new plaza outside the Casino going westward toward Cookman Avenue is another key element of the plan, he said.
"Our whole goal here is to make this a year-round destination and a daylong destination," Mottola said.
Condo dwellers arrive
The rest of the waterfront plan focuses on new condominiums, now under construction with some units occupied. Progress is slower than initially planned, resulting in less tax revenue for Asbury Park. The state had to bail out the city with $7.5 million for its 2007 budget.
Lamle said 40 condo units have been occupied in North Beach and Wesley Grove.
Larry Fishman, Asbury Partners' chief operating officer, said 257 condominiums are expected to be on the city's tax rolls in 2008.
"I think the city's going to have to plug that gap for another year," he said of the city's budget shortfall.