Metropolitan Hotel to be Demolished
By DON STINE
The historic Metropolitan Hotel on Asbury Avenue in Asbury Park will be demolished sometime within the next three weeks after the building was recently determined to be a hazard and in danger of collapse. The city received a report from Anthony Gianforcaro, a Chester-based engineer and architect, stating the building has deteriorated to the point that it can not be saved or rehabilitated. Gianforcaro was hired by the buildings owner, Donald Cresitello, who is also the mayor of Morristown, to do the analysis. As a follow up, Don Sammett, the citys director of planning and redevelopment, said a city construction official then visited the site last week and determined that the Gianforcaro report was accurate. This results in a notice that the building was an imminent danger, beyond repair, and in danger of collapse. A notice has been sent to the property owner to demolish the hotel by Sat., Oct. 13, Sammett said. Sammett said he did not immediately have the exact details of the city construction officials report but that he believes it stated the walls are shifting off their foundations. Sammett said the 180-room hotel, at 309 Asbury Avenue, is in the citys scattered site redevelopment plan which required it be renovated as a hotel, allowing only a newer, eastern portion of the building to be razed. Because the hotel structure will no longer exist the provisions contained in the scattered site redevelopment plan will no longer apply. The plan will need to be amended to provide a revised, or a completely different, t set of development controls for the property. The demolition makes the prior plans moot, he said. Sammett said Cresitello, who is a principle in 309 Asbury Corp., had applied for a demolition permit previously and that one was issued. However, that permit was then rescinded by the city when it was realized the hotel was part of the scattered site plan and to be preserved as a hotel. City Manager Terence J. Reidy said he is sad the building is to be razed. Under the scattered site plan is was to be preserved. That was a policy call by the governing body and I think it was a good call. Its sad to lose this building, he said. Reidy said he lives only about three blocks from the Metropolitan Hotel and that he and his wife were looking forward to seeing it restored. Its a sad story that we are losing it now, he said.
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September 20th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
How long ago did Mayor Cresitello apply for his initial demolition permit? And did he make any effort to do any work on the building between that time and when his own paid engineer did the site assesment?
How long has Mayor Cresitello owned the building? Had he done any work on it during that period?
What was his initial motivation in purchasing the property?
How many other pieces of real estate does the mayor of Morristown own in Asbury Park? In Monmouth County?
Who stands to benefit the most financially from this building’s deterioration and demolition?
Will the redevelopment plan be amended in such a way as to prevent a new hotel from being built there? Was that Mayor Cresitello’s and his 309 Asbury partners’ hope all along?
If in fact the plan is amended to allow residential development, will it allow multi-family rentals or a single family, owner occupied home (or homes)?
If the City Manager was really looking forward to seeing the hotel revitalized, did he exert whatever influence he could within the halls of government to encourage/demand that Mayor Cresitello rehabilitate his property as expeditiously as possible? Did anyone else?
Why is it okay for landlords from other towns (some of which they happen to govern) to allow hotels, storefronts and amusements in Asbury Park to deteriorate over the course of several decades, but if an owner who actually resides as the single occupant in his home doesn’t repair his porch in time, he gets hauled off to the county jail?
September 20th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
oh goody!
I’m so looking forward to more ‘long branch’ style condos!
theres not nearly enough planned as it is!
Maybe we’ll luck out and donny will sell to the partners so we can have one more block sitting vacant for years!
Way to drop the ball there, “city official” with no credentials listed.
September 21st, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Instead of dwelling over this building’s demolition, Asbury Park and its supporters should use this as a wake up call to get on the ball and start making progress at preserving whats left. Sadly, its too late to save the Metropolitan Hotel (and yes, the owners were obviously asking far too much for the asking price so nobody would buy, leaving the building to deteriorate for years and years to the point where an extensive and costly restoration was avoided).
The focus should now shift to saving what remains. The Charms building right down the road should be number one on that list, as its condition is most likely deteriorating and it is one of the last grand buildings left. Other buildings such as the Heating Plant and the remainder of the Casino, while being worked on, need to be reopened (not just fixed and reboarded) so that life can be brought back to those structures. Convention Hall and the 5th Avenue Pavilion also need faster progress to ensure they are not lying to us about the conditions of these structures.
Something else that needs to be done is a plan must be drawn up for what will specifically be built around the Stone Pony. It would be very easy to let that block sit to be the last to be developed, only to turn around and say the large residential surroundings call for the club to be moved to another part of town and the building demolished because it doesnt “fit” in the neighborhood.
Look at the redevelopment map and you will see a number of structures that were to be preserved: Palace Amusements, The Metropolitan Hotel, The Charms Building, and The Stone Pony (along with many others). Palace is long gone, Metropolitan will be gone soon, Charms could be next on the chopping block if nothing is done soon… whats to say the Pony wouldnt be next on that list?
September 25th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Don’t dwell, but don’t just “move on” either. There are lessons to be learned. Asbury Park and its supporters need to go back through the recent ownership history of this building, of the Baronet and the Fastlane, the Charms Building, the Palace, etc and figure out HOW and WHY those structures deteriorated as they did despite the obvious remedies. And if it is a matter of bureacracy and ill-conceived development plans, then the residents of the town need to demand accountability from city hall. There must be a timeline for restoration that Asbury Partners needs to follow, no? So what is the town doing to hold them accountable?
It’s not saltwater that’s killing these buildings. It’s apathy.
September 26th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Apathy is only killing those buildings on the side of the developers. There are plenty of people who care about seeing every historic building saved. Its not very hard to imagine what a restored and newly opened Palace Amusements would be doing for the south end of Asbury Park right now. The fact is that there were plenty of people who would have been interested in buying and restoring the Palace had the price not been as high and ridiculous as it was at the time (I think it was something like $2.5million back in 2003 when the redevelopment was barely underway). Asbury Partners, which owned the building and still owns the land, never had the slightest intentions of keeping any of the Palace Amusements complex as part of the redevelopment and was only drawn in on the plans to please residents and supporters.
The same goes for the Metropolitan Hotel, which was to be purchased by the same company which just completed a wonderful restoration of the Steinbach building. Unfortunately the negotiations fell through on the Metropolitan Hotel, probably because of the high price associated with not only buying the building but restoring it. About 2 years ago, I called the for sale number on the side of the building only to be told the price for the building was going to be set at $3,000,000. When I asked about restoration costs, he told me the figure could be somewhere in the $20,000,000 area! Then when I asked about having to keep the building as a hotel, he told me that was absolutely untrue and that the building did not even have to remain standing. This was 2 YEARS AGO! At the same time, the building was still listed on the city’s scattered site redevelopment plan as a site to be restored. The owners of the Metropolitan let it decay for two more years so that it would become even more unstable. Now they can demolish the hotel, possibly subdivide the land and make the millions they have sought after for years.
Life is unfortunate in that the only feasable way to help get Asbury Park back to life was to call in a master developer and buy all of the land as to attract builders, merchants, and eventually residents and tourists back to the town.
The building of condos is great for the town, as opposed to what many people think. Bringing in wealth is not neccessarily driving out the old residents, its creating an economy for the city, generating tax dollars which get pumped back into schools, infrastructure, and maintenance of parks. Eventually, the increase in tourism will help local businesses. But there is PLENTY of abandoned land to start fresh and build on. This is another reason why I cant fathom the closing of the wonder bar. There are other blocks which are completely vacant. BUILD ON THEM FIRST! Maybe create a space inside one of the new buildings for retail which could be the new home for the Wonder Bar, then take care of that block.
September 26th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
There is NO “Accountability” in City Hall! The City Manager and three people on the city Council give the Developers ANYTHING they want!
As Maureen Nevin has pointed out, the Council has regularly broken the Sunshine Law over and over, even Ed Johnson, yet NO One, the FBI, Prosecutor, NO One does anything! The last City Election for Council was FIXED by their (the Mayor’s) 4 person ticket, and NO One did anything! The City has hired about 10 People specifically FOR the Redevelopment, and this year we were in debt for $7.5 Million, and NO one does anything! The State bailed Asbury Park out, and slapped the City on the wrist ….. That’s IT!
About 8-10 very Old Landmark Status or Historical Buildings have been quickly and mysteriously Knocked Down (Demolished), and NO one does anything!
Tell me, can a building go from being “Safe for Rehabilitation” to “Having a Building separated from it’s Foundation” in 6-8 Months? I think NOT! Not after it sat for 50 years being “Structurally Sound”!
This is yet another City/ Developer CON Job! I just can’t WAIT to see what they approve for that Block & Lot to replace the Metropolitan Hotel. Want to BET it’s going to be a large McCondo Project?
I wonder if the Mayor who owns it is personal friends with terry Reidy, the City Manager? After all, didn’t Mr. Reidy WORK in Morristown at one point? Check THAT out Maureen and the tri-City News and APP!
Just another Crooked Con Job by our Crooked City Hall!
Why doesn’t the infamous Werner B. call the State and have THEM properly check the Building Before it’s too Late? Maybe he got brain dead from sitting in Jail too long(?)
Steve
September 27th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Take it from me, I am an architect and I deal with city governments and building departments almost every day. City Hall didnt want anything to do with this property. Not caring about a building and wanting a building to be demolished are two different things. The owner of the building wants the property demolished. City Hall just doesnt care and theres really nothing you can hold them accountable for. On the other hand, the Casino is completely the fault of the city because for a number of years they were the owners of the building, and they let it decline to a state of disrepair. Something else to realize is the Metropolitan Hotel is not owned by the master developers, its owned by (and has been for a number of years before there was even an Asbury Partners) by a private investor. It is not included in a city block which has been deemed part of the target redevelopment zone, it was only listed on the scattered site redevelopment plan in the oceanfront redevelopment plan.
A building in essence is like a living creature. It needs life to survive. It needs care and maintenance to stay structurally sound. Most every abandoned building’s faults come from its roof. Once a leak begins in a roof, water seeps in. Water not only is the source of mold and bacteria, but it also begins to warp wood, wear down masonry, and rust metals. Materials weaken, the structure becomes unsafe, unrepairable, and therfore must be demolished. The Metropolitan Hotel has been in a state of disrepair for almost a decade. Here is a website with current pictures of the interior of the building:
http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/the_metropolitan.htm
Since the Metropolitan Hotel was not landmarked, there are no regulations as to saving it. We saw with the Palace a strong effort to preserve the building, and since it was landmarked we got to save alot more from it as opposed to if it had not been landmarked. Efforts have to be made immediately to officially landmark what remains. The Charms Building, The Baronet, The Stone Pony, the YMCA, etc. These buildings are all going to be lost if the effort to save every one doesnt start immediately. Thats why I said in my first post, let this be a wake up call. Blaming people at this stage isnt going to save the rest of the buildings. The blame needs to be replaced with demands that no more demolition takes place on historic structures.
October 5th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I live in Philly and have been reading websites about Asbury Park for the past two weeks. I am finding that politicians are the same everywhere. All they care about is making money and bending over backwards to accommodate anything that the developers want.
The same thing happened here about 15 years ago. The late Sam Rappaport was a real estate mogul who let downtown properties deteriorate, until it was decided to build the Convention Center. Then he raked in millions by selling the land to build the center on.
It’s going condo crazy here too. Big ugly complexes going up all over the place. It’s sad for me to see the beautiful architecture that once was in Asbury Park, like the Palace. The Casino is another building that was once beautiful.
Politicians from both parties are all for the wealthy and powerful. Little wonder people are so little motivated to vote these days.
October 30th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Well, the Oct. 16th. date for the Metropolitan’s destruction has come and gone. I’ve been trying to find out the new date, but haven’t had any luck.
A big dumpster (construction type) appeared in front of the hotel about a week ago and there has been all sorts of damage to the structure (signs stolen, windows broken out, etc…)
Anyone have any idea when it’s coming down? I’d like to take some photos of the event.