Historic Berkeley Carteret Hotel Sells for $16M

ASBURY PARK, NJ-The historic Berkeley Carteret Oceanfront Hotel and Conference Center here is in the hands of its third owner in the past eight years. The Chetrit Group, a New York City-based company headed by Joseph and Jacob Chetrit, has acquired the 250-room hostelry for $16 million, buying it from Daniel Ahn, a Queens, NY-based businessman.

The hotel, which also has 30,000 sf of ballroom space and is located across the street from this oceanfront city’s 50,000-sf convention hall, was constructed in 1925. The property was shuttered this past fall and put on the market. The new owners say they will renovate the asset and hope to have it ready to reopen in time for the upcoming summer season.

Ahn had put the property on the market with an asking price of $12 million this past fall. According to a source with knowledge of the transaction, Asbury Partners, the designated master developer of this city’s redevelopment zone, put in a bid of $10.5 million, an offer that was declined. Subsequent bidding moved the final number up to $16 million, according to the source.

Ahn bought the hotel in 1998 for just more than $5 million, picking it up from the organization of Maharishi Maheshi Yogi. The latter bought in four years earlier for less than $2 million and, at one time, had a proposal on the table to turn it into a transcendental meditation and holistic healthcare center, a use that city officials did not approve.

The latest sale was brokered by Patricia Kobble, who represented both sides. Kobble had initiated the transaction late last year while with Prudential Real Estate Affiliates and closed it this week after subsequently moving over to Portfolio Realty of Lakewood.