Broad Redevelopment Plan Unveiled for Asbury Park

ASBURY PARK, NJ—If development plans announced recently by iStar move forward,  Asbury Park, NJ is finally looking at a major redevelopment of its long-neglected beachfront. 

iStar, a real-estate investment company with Asbury Park roots, announced plans for more than 20 individual projects in the faded seaside resort that would transform a 1.25-mile stretch of Asbury Park waterfront with carefully curated residential, hotel, and infrastructure projects. 

“We believe in Asbury Park's potential as a one-of-a-kind place to live, work, visit, and invest,” says Jay Sugarman, iStar's founder and CEO. “We're excited to harness its character, beauty, and heritage to build a future full of promise.  And we're eager to share it with the world.”

Development has already begun on several elements of the iStar project. Vive, a 28-townhome project completed last year as a pilot project, sold out within a day of its initial offering.  Landscaping, sidewalks, street lighting, and parking have all undergone major overhauls with iStar support. The company has been a presence in Asbury Park since late 2010, when it opened a headquarters on Ocean Avenue. 

The company says the project will add more than 2,100 homes and 300 hotel rooms to the town, strengthening Asbury Park's tax base, employment opportunities, and economic backbone.  Among the 20 individual iStar-financed projects planned:

• The Asbury, a 110 key independent hotel designed by Stonehill & Taylor Architects will be inspired by Asbury Park itself and will take the title of its first new hotel in 30 years.  The Asbury is set to open early summer 2016 in a long-vacant former Salvation Army building after extensive adaptive-reuse work. 
• Monroe, a stylish and sophisticated 34-unit condominium designed by acclaimed Miami architect Chad Oppenheim, projected opening summer 2016.
• Asbury Lanes, the legendary music and bowling venue acquired by iStar that's home to everything from burlesque to bingo, will be renovated.
• 1101 Ocean, a landmark mixed-use hotel/condominium/retail project designed by New York's Handel Architects will shine as one of the tallest buildings along the Jersey Shore. By completing a project that had been abandoned by two previous developers, iStar will finally rid Asbury Park of a concrete eyesore that has been vacant for more than 20 years.

Sugarman has assembled an experienced team to move the redevelopment forward. Anda Andrei, formerly director of design with the Ian Schrager Company, is the creative lead for the entire redevelopment project.  Andrei is selecting designers and architects who understand how to shape Asbury Park's future while celebrating its one-of-a-kind character.

Hotel innovator David Bowd, creator of the SALT hotels brand and a former executive at Andre Balazs Properties, will manage, program and oversee development of an iStar-backed hotel currently under construction.

Other notable partners include architects Gary Handel (The Dream, Four Seasons Miami); Paul Taylor (Ace, Nomad); and Chad Oppenheim (Ten Museum Park Miami); renowned landscape designer Madison Cox (Majorelle Gardens in Marrakech, Spring Garden at the French National Museum at the Château de Blérancourt); and landscape architects Melillo + Bauer Associates.

While it reshapes the future, iStar says its redevelopment will nurture “the maverick spirit and indie attitude that make Asbury Park one of the unsung capitals of cool in the United States” —preserving multiple music venues like the Stone Pony and retro-hip Asbury Lanes, to galleries, chef-owned restaurants, independent-minded local retailers, nightspots, and seasonal farmers' markets.

“Asbury Park has a soul that makes it unique in America,” says Andrei, whose past projects include the Delano Miami, Royalton New York and The London EDITION. “There's a love for that behind this project.  We're mining the incredible history and one-of-a-kind character to amplify what's already here.” 

“Through the properties we're developing, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture Asbury Park's incredible sense of place,” says Bowd.

The company says it will also partner with Asbury Park businesses, cultural institutions, entrepreneurs, artists, and community groups to nurture the town's character as a true American original, noting that it has been called “Brooklyn on the Beach,” or “The Indie Hamptons.” 

iStar's unconventional, far-sighted approach to development extends far beyond buildings, however.  The company began laying the groundwork more than three years ago with a series of community outreach and beautification projects.

iStar has created “The Crew,” an ambassador training program that teaches employment skills and community outreach as it coaches locals on welcoming visitors to Asbury Park. The Crew also helps support local organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club.

To beautify the town, iStar has added beach-themed landscaping throughout the community, and together with Asbury Park, relocated overhead electrical utility lines underground, installed new storm-sewer systems, and restored historic streets, lighting, curbs and sidewalks. Working with town officials, iStar has also facilitated the addition of significant new parking for the waterfront and its many attractions.

“The opportunity to design almost a mile of oceanfront land almost never comes along, and to have that opportunity in a place with as rich a history, as beautiful a setting, and with such iconic venues and architecture as Asbury Park, gives us a chance to do something really special,” says Sugarman. “I know everyone on our team is committed to making that happen.”