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Seaside Heights Approves New Oceanfront Restaurant With Rooftop Viewing Deck

by
Daniel Nee
December 23, 2020

A new restaurant approved for Dupont Avenue on the Seaside Heights boardwalk, Dec. 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The newest addition to the Seaside Heights boardwalk will be a multi-level, 164-seat restaurant built on a pier at Dupont Avenue.

The borough’s planning board approved the restaurant, as yet unnamed, at its meeting last week. The restaurant will be located on a pier just north of the space where a separate establishment – a pool club and entertainment venue – will be located on another pier. The latest restaurant, which was designed by the same architectural firm that was responsible for the long-awaited beach club, will not posses a liquor license and will operate as a dining facility only.

A new restaurant approved for Dupont Avenue on the Seaside Heights boardwalk, Dec. 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The future location of a new restaurant approved for Dupont Avenue on the Seaside Heights boardwalk, Dec. 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

“We will have an open-air retractable portion in the back with a series of garage doors, and on the second level we will also have garage doors that will open up,” explained Jason Hanrahan, owner of MODE Architects, which designed the building. “The restaurant will seem like an open air facility when the weather is right. The location lends itself to an indoor-outdoor restaurant.”

The restaurant will seat 164 patrons – 87 seats on the first level and 77 on the second level – and also feature a rooftop observation platform.

“We have the observation deck that will allow people to get a view to the north for fireworks and anything else,” said Hanrahan. “It will be a spectacular view up there.”

The deck will be for observation purposes only and will not have any tables present. An elevator will be installed to take patrons from floor to floor. Members of the planning board praised the design of the building, though they did take the step of asking that several proposed LED flashing signs be removed. Ultimately, the developer, Shore LLC, agreed to remove all but one ocean-facing LED sign, stipulated that it would not scroll text, and could have its brightness muted so it would not affect nearby properties. The building itself will have a “Shore feel,” representatives said.

“We’re using coastal materials and want to show the coastal atmosphere, so we have a lot of cedar shake elements and we’ll be bringing in the wood timber piles to frame the aesthetic of the building,” said Hanrahan.

The future location of a new restaurant approved for Dupont Avenue on the Seaside Heights boardwalk, Dec. 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The developer plans to lease the site to an operator who will run the restaurant and choose its menu. As it currently stands, there are no plans to acquire a liquor license in the future.

“The individuals so far that the applicant has talked to are not interested in having anybody bring alcohol onto the site,” said Joseph D. Coronato, attorney for Shore LLC. “They really prefer not to have a liquor license; this will be operated as a restaurant and a restaurant only.”

Theoretically, a future owner or lessee could propose a liquor license, but would require the approval of the borough council.

The restaurant will feature several decks for oceanfront dining. The property will add up to about 15,000 square feet once completed.