A proposal to turn a parking lot behind the Paradise nightclub in Asbury Park into a five-and-a-half-story parking deck and apartments recently went before the city council and drew significant opposition from city residents.
During the city council’s regular meeting held on March 25, professionals working on behalf of the applicant, 3904 Garage Urban Renewal, LLC/AP Block 3904 Venture Urban Renewal, LLC, went before the city council to host a brief presentation for a proposed project at 110 1st Avenue.
The site itself is prime real estate in the city. Two renowned venues, the Stone Pony and Paradise, are just steps from the property, while the 1st Avenue Beach, historic Ocean Avenue Boardwalk, and Carousel and Casino buildings are all less than a block away. Other projects, such as The Vive Condominiums, Phillips Seaview Tower, and Wesley Grove Condominiums, have also changed the neighborhood to a more residential feel, building on the legacy of entertainment and tourism for which this part of the city was known.
Jennifer Phillips Smith, a partner at FBT Gibbons, led the presentation on behalf of the applicant to secure a redevelopment agreement that would deliver a new parking deck and 54 apartments, and include infrastructure upgrades to the flood management system at Wesley Lake. The applicant, she said, has been trying to develop the site since 2022, but the city council opted not to vote on the redevelopment agreement when plans were last presented in May of that year.
The new proposal calls for a new parking deck with 310 parking spaces and a six-story residential building facing 1st Avenue and Kingsley Street. The entrance to the parking deck and residential lobby of the project would be located on 1st Avenue on the north side of the site, next to the Empress Hotel, but the parking deck itself would occupy most of the southern portion of the site, along the hotel and its parking lot. The rooftop of the garage would serve as a 5,000-square-foot outdoor space, and the garage would include 97 parking stalls for residents.
The residential portion of the project would include 17 one-bedrooms, 28 two-bedrooms, and 9 three-bedroom units. The developer proposed that the six-story wall facing south of the parking deck be used as a mural, but this part of the proposal, as well as the project’s overall aesthetic appeal, became the biggest point of contention for residents.
Phillips Smith began the presentation by highlighting that the developer would commit to starting work on the residential component of the project after completing $5 million in infrastructure upgrades at Wesley Lake. But even this was not enough for city residents, who voiced opposition to the project in light of other unfinished projects in the city, the lack of aesthetic appeal for a project of this size and location, and its impact on the surrounding community.
Residents who submitted public comments during the meeting, including residents from The Vive, complained that the project would block views to the ocean and that its proposed color palette would ruin the neighborhood’s character.
Several residents of the city, including Asbury Park Mayor John Moor, voiced similar concerns about the proposed champagne-and-grey color palette for the project. On the other hand, some residents who submitted public comments against the project said that constructing an apartment building and a five-story structure west of the Empress Hotel and Paradise nightclub, a prominent venue for the LGBTQIA+ community, would ultimately damage the neighborhood’s appeal.
The parking lot just south of the project site, which serves the Empress Hotel, would be left untouched, but the two five-story walls facing it and the outdoor section of Paradise would negatively impact the venue, they said.
While residents who submitted public comments complained mostly about the project’s aesthetics, Phillips Smith reiterated that this iteration is actually a much smaller version of what the city’s redevelopment plan allows and what the applicant offered to build two years ago. The parking deck is part of the city’s 2002 master plan, which requires at least 200 parking stalls, but zoning laws for the parcel allow construction of a building up to 8 stories tall.
The City Council did not vote on a redevelopment agreement during the meeting. As of April 14, the city council has not scheduled a vote on a redevelopment agreement. Phillips Smith did not return a request for comment from Jersey Digs.
