A luxury hotel may be coming to Seaside Heights, as the town tries to shed its party reputation
The hotel would bring in more than 100 new full-time jobs to the region and would take several years to complete after groundbreaking.
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Is Seaside Heights ready for a massive luxury hotel? As the famed Jersey Shore hot spot sheds its party reputation, a Boston developer is looking to transform an entire block into something the town has never seen.
“I see Seaside Heights as a gem,” said William Caulder, owner of 6M Development.
An ambitious $80 million luxury hotel could be just a few summers away from reality, according to Caulder.
“You’ve got bedroom communities to the north and south and really need this hospitality component along this portion of the shore,” he said.
After Superstorm Sandy leveled parts of the town, the reimagining began. Empty clubs and abandoned structures are now gone. This new hotel would take the place of the Surfside, Glendale and Dry Dock motels.
“People want to go on vacation. They’re willing to spend a little bit more money,” said Seaside Heights Mayor Tony Vaz.
But some fear the blue-collar vibe and affordability of Seaside Heights could be lost.
“It’s not the Seaside Heights I grew up with. And what’s coming across the street, not happy about it,” said Mike D’Arminio, who lives across the street from the proposed luxury hotel.
“This town is always based on middle-class Average Joe coming in. We don’t want to price ourselves out of business either. Let’s hope this is good for town,” said Dave Boukili, owner of Jimmy’s Breakfast, next to the planned redevelopment.
“We are cognizant of that. This property will be a destination location, so we’re going to create events that we didn’t used to have and handle other types of opportunities,” said Mike Loundy, of Seaside Realty.
Vaz says that closing problem motels helped to drop nuisance crime and arrests by 80% in just three years.
Caulder says he hopes to begin demolition and groundbreaking by next spring.
The hotel would bring in more than 100 new full-time jobs to the region and would take several years to complete after groundbreaking. The final sale of the properties is currently in negotiations.
