Proposed Development Adjacent to Empress Gets Harsh Criticism

The Asbury Park City Council held its final meeting of March on March 25th, at 6 p.m. in the Municipal Building Council Chambers. In attendance were Mayor John Moor, Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn, Council members Angela Ahbez-Anderson, Eileen Chapman, and Yvonne Clayton, along with other city officials.

The highlight of the meeting was arguably a presentation on the redevelopment of 110 First Avenue, i.e. – the large parking lot that is adjacent to, but not owned by, The Empress Hotel. In advance of the meeting, community members took to social media encouraging attendance at tonight’s meeting to make comments on this project.

Hundreds reacted to a March 24th post in the “Asbury Park Life” Facebook group encouraging LGBTQ+ community members to make their voices heard, expressing concern that the development could threaten the culture and character of the neighborhood. The post had been widely shared, but disappeared in the hours leading up to the Council meeting.

The proposed project – amended from an initial 2022 proposal – would include a parking garage with 225 public parking spaces and 97 residential parking spaces along with a 5-story multi-family building with 54 units of rental housing. The residential part of the project would be designed to largely envelop the parking garage to largely keep it from public view. Additionally, the developer has now added a flood mitigation project to the plan, including new outfall pipes from Wesley Lake that they would aim to construct in 2028. This project would cost an estimated $5 million (or more), but the cost would be borne by special assessments on the new waterfront properties and not impact taxpayers in other areas. This is a project that the city has considered doing themselves, but have struggled to secure either state or federal funding for. This addition may be an incentive for city approval of the project. The developer also noted that as a part of their revision to the project they reduced the size of the building from the initial proposal of eight stories.

A rendering of the proposed building from various angles at street level.

Source: City of Asbury Park

The proposal calls for it to “utilize a contemporary style with a color palette consistent with the exterior finish of the Empress Hotel to the east and the Vive development to the west.” However, in a letter to the Council, Mike Arvelo of the “This Week in Asbury” Instagram account blasted the proposal as “a wall of gray fiber cement panel beside one of the most beloved mid-century facades on the Jersey Shore. He dubbed it “Indifference, dressed up in architectural language.” Public commenters echoed that sentiment, with one saying “Gray and white buildings attract gray and white people.” Resident and boardwalk business owner Chris Turk said, “[The proposed building] is stripping the town of its’ personality.” Mayor Moor also expressed displeasure with the proposed color scheme at the conclusion of public comment.

Color schemes aside, the largest source of displeasure with the proposed project came from Asbury Park’s large LGBTQ+ community. Several commenters shared the sentiment that they go to the Empress Hotel and Paradise Nightclub for a safe space and a sense of community with one saying, “I found love there.” Nightclub manager JoJo Crisci and Empress owner Shep Pettibone both gave strong defenses of their establishment and what it means to the community. Pettibone remarked, “I was happy to be the pioneer who brought so many people to Asbury, but they’re now driving people out of Asbury.” He discussed the difficulty that construction would have on maintaining a hotel business. Pettibone further noted that a shade study that was done showed this building would result in only an hour and a half of sun per day at the pool. Pettibone received a standing ovation following his remarks. Crisci and Pettibone were joined at the meeting by customers and supporters alike.

A rendering of the proposed building from the perspective of the Paradise pool.

Source: City of Asbury Park

Mayor Moor, as well as Deputy Mayor Quinn and Councilwoman Ahbez-Anderson addressed the palpable frustration of attendees, several of whom expressed that they didn’t feel like their comments would change anything. They all expressed the value they place on public comment and said that it plays a role in their deliberations. Following public comments on Paradise and comparisons made to noise complaints at Kim Marie’s, Quinn specifically pressed the developers about the concerns regarding Paradise. She suggested that future tenants should receive documentation and be aware that they are moving next to a nightclub. Mayor Moor questioned the developer on the results of a shade and traffic study following a question from a resident who is an environmental scientist. The developer promised to share results with the city

In other development news, the Council shared with the public that the contractor expected to work with Madison Asbury Retail (MAR) on the Paramount Theatre project unexpectedly pulled out of the project yesterday. The Council discussed the issue in Executive Session and shared a statement on Facebook where they provided support for MAR’s effort to promptly engage an alternate contractor.

After the conclusion of public comment, Council chambers expectedly cleared out. They went on to address several business items, most notably:

The Council authorized payment of $20,280 to South River based contractor S Brothers, Inc for snow removal following the second snowstorm of 2026. S Brothers was also used for the first snowstorm, at a cost of $58,465.

The council further authorized five change orders totaling $150,019 for the Asbury Park Boardwalk Restroom project. These change orders reflect unanticipated costs in the initial project, which initially was approved at approximately $3.06 million. Taking into account these change orders as well as six change orders that had been previously approved, the project is now estimated to cost $3.71 million. A large amount of these increased costs are due to concealed building foundations present at the site that would have prevented the project from moving forward had they not been removed.

The meeting concluded with the second reading and final approval of a CAP Rate ordinance for CY 2026. This allows to increase the total budget by 3.5% over last year versus the 2% cap on annual appropriations increases set into law in 1977.

The next Asbury Park City Council meeting is currently scheduled for Wednesday, April 8th, at 6 p.m. at Asbury Park City Hall.