Busy Night: Hooks Replacement, Ice Cream Shop, Two Motel Demolitions Set for Seaside Heights Hearings

A rendering of a proposed restaurant and condominium complex to replace Hooks in Seaside Heights. (Courtesy: Mike Loundy/ MODE Architects)

A marathon planning board meeting is planned next week in Seaside Heights as the summer season fast approaches, with the board tasked with considering several applications that have the potential to change the look of the borough.

The board will take on four major applications at its March 31 meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. in the borough council chambers and courtroom above the firehouse. Up for hearings is a high-profile replacement of the legendary Hooks Bar and Grill (long known simply as ‘Captain Hook’s’), a plan to spruce up a liquor store off Central Avenue and add an ice cream shop to the property, and the demolition of two motels in favor of residential development.

After all of the respective property owners informally presented their proposals to the board during workshop meetings over the last several months, final tweaks of the plans were performed and it is expected that each project will come up for a vote next week.

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Hooks Replacement

Shorebeat has been reporting for several years on a potential plan to replace the Boulevard landmark. After some fits and stops, the proposal was presented at the aforementioned workshop meeting and will move forward March 31. The final plans call for the currently building housing the popular bar to be demolished and replaced with 22 residential condominiums, a 40-space parking deck for the residents living in the units, and an all-new Hooks Bar and Grill. The specific proposal requires the board to grant several variances, according to the final hearing notice:

• Setbacks – asking for 3-foot setbacks on Carteret and Kearney Aves. where 10 feet are required
  by code.
• Height – The proposed height of the new building would be 54.6 feet high where 41 feet is
  permitted. (D variance)
• Density – Where 1200 square foot is permitted by code for each unit, the applicant is requesting each
  unit to measure 955 SF. (D variance)
• Parking Residential – asking to supply 40 residential parking spaces.
• Curb Cuts – the applicant is looking for approval to make each of the two (2) curb cuts at 42
  feet wide.
• Overall Use (D variance) – requesting to build a restaurant on this property where a portion of the
  property, on the northeastern side is located in the residential zone. Restaurants are not a
  permitted use in residential zones.

A rendering of a proposed restaurant and condominium complex to replace Hooks in Seaside Heights. (Courtesy: Mike Loundy/ MODE Architects)

A rendering of a proposed restaurant and condominium complex to replace Hooks in Seaside Heights. (Courtesy: Mike Loundy/ MODE Architects)

A rendering of a proposed restaurant and condominium complex to replace Hooks in Seaside Heights. (Courtesy: Mike Loundy/ MODE Architects)

“D” variances are also known as “use” variance and require a property owner to meet enhanced criteria for approval. These types of variances also require a supermajority of board members voting in favor of the application in order for it to pass.

Liquor Store Spruce-Up; Ice Cream Shop Addition

TC’s Liquor, Seaside Heights, N.J. (Credit: Google Maps)

TC’s Liquor Store (at Central and Hamilton avenues) will go before the board to pitch a plan that will allow the store’s owner to improve the interior and exterior of the building and add an ice cream shop to the property. An ice cream shop had been contemplated in the past, with space set aside, but plans never came to fruition. What has been described as an interior “artists’ space” will serve as the area that will accommodate the expansion.

The store owner would like to use the remaining portion of the vacant space under the roof to expand the liquor store, and would also like to make “cosmetic” upgrades to the exterior of the building without changing any current dimensions. The board is being asked to approve several variances, though many have to do with the shape and location of the existing building. They include:

• Use Variance – Continue to use the premises as liquor store.
• Use Variance – Use the premises as an ice cream shop.
• Setback – Front yard setback (existing).
• Use – Mixed use of two commercial units in one property.
• Parking – Continue existing parking as-is.

Palm Villa Townhomes

Palm Villa Motel (Credit: Booking.com)

The property owner at 1211 Boulevard is seeking approval to demolish the existing Palm Villa Hotel & Suites to construct two buildings with a drive aisle in between.

Each building will consist of five townhouses for a total of 10 residential units. The property in question is 11,400 square feet in size divided between multiple legal lots; specifically, one lot measures 3,800 square feet and another measures 7,600 square feet. On the Boulevard side of the development, the developer is requesting a front yard setback of 5 feet, where 10 feet is required by code. Presently, there is an existing 6.4-foot front setback. They are also requesting a variance for “lot area per unit.” It is permitted by code to build each unit at 1,200 square feet, while the applicant is asking for 1,140 square feet.

Sea Breeze Motel Demolition, Townhome Approval

Townhomes proposed to replace the Sea Breeze Motel, 1502 Boulevard, Seaside Heights, N.J. (Credit: Mike Loundy)

The developer is requesting approval to demolish the existing Sea Breeze Hotel, located at 1502 Boulevard, to construct a residential condominium complex with six units.

The applicant is seeking approval for density relating to lot area per unit by way of a variance to build each unit at 1,005 square feet where 1,200 sf is permitted. An additional variance is requested for curb cuts so that there can be a depressed curb of 60 feet, where a width of 16 feet is normally permitted.

The Sea Breeze Hotel, Seaside Heights, slated for redevelopment, March 2022. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Shorebeat previously published an article detailing the proposal.