Neptune night club, motel joining forces to build mega hotel-apartment complex

NEPTUNE - The owners of the former Neptune Motor Lodge on Route 35, as well as the surrounding properties which include the Headliner nightclub and Sunsets Riverfront Bar and Restaurant, have some big plans to redevelop the area more than two years after the motel was severely damaged in a storm.

"The proposal would include a 100-room brand new hotel, a restaurant to replace the Headliner and high-end rental apartments," said state Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, who has been involved in efforts to restore the closed hotel after neighbors complained. "All of this is up to (Neptune) obviously. (It's) the town's decision to negotiate, but we have accomplished the hardest piece," Gopal said.

Gopal said three of the four property owners involved have already signed the development deal, which is now waiting on the hotel owner. They have committed to make the deal possibly as soon as this Friday.

The four properties include the abandoned Neptune Motor Lodge, Sunsets Riverfront Bar and Restaurant, Headliner nightclub and an acre of land adjacent to the Route 35 bridge.

Gopal added that "hopefully this moves quickly."

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In March 2021, a powerful storm tore off parts of the roof of the Neptune Motor Lodge. The damage was caused by straight line winds between 60 and 70 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

Soaked insulation, wood, tar paper and other pieces of the motel were stripped from the building and spread across the highway and surrounding residential properties as a result of the storm. That debris was cleaned up, but two years later neighbors are still staring at the vacant building.

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Residents have been in consistent contact with Neptune Township officials since 2022, when over two dozen residents met on the street outside the abandoned property with representatives from Gopal's office and reporters to highlight the problem.

'A big piece of redevelopment'

"This is an area for the last 16 years that has had challenges as far as crime, poverty and stuff because of the rundown motel that is there right now, so this will bring that down," Gopal said. "In addition to solving a big piece of redevelopment in the Neptune area. This should also make the area safer because there won't be any abandoned properties there anymore, as well as increase all local residents' home values and quality of life."

The motel is in a redevelopment zone, and the owner, the Beena Halari Family Trust, has had the option of repairing and reopening the property as a motel or demolishing it.

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The motel owner, Bhaskar Halari, told the Asbury Park Press that the owners are working together to finalize the agreement.

"In principle we are all on board," Halari said. "The plan would be to knock down the motel and (rebuild) a hotel there."

Halari is excited to knock the motel down and build something even better.

"All around us, Belmar and Asbury and everywhere else, good things are happening and we have potential to do similar here," he said.

Ironbound Property Group LLC owns the piece of property directly adjacent to Route 35.

"Ironbound went under contract for this property about a year and a half ago, and we approached the family who owns the Sunsets property, the majority of the property that is on the water. It is almost six acres for all of the properties in the redevelopment zone," said Tripp Brooks, a partner in Ironbound.

Neptune wanted all four the owners "on the same page" to simplify the approval process and infrastrure work.

"The town didn't want to deal with this individual property owner relative to the water and sewer, and then another property owner and then another property owner," Brooks said. "So it has taken a while for us to come up with a framework or understanding."

That understanding was finally reached on Aug. 15 and the owners plan to go forward and present a unified presentation to the Township Committee.

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'I think it is going to be good news'

"We will be able to go forward and go, 'OK, you're going to be dealing with one group, a joint venture.' Everyone will still develop their own properties, but the joint venture will be for the approvals and also the infrastructure," Brooks said. "So, the town is only dealing with one group. Individual permits will be up to the individual property owners. Nobody is going to build the other person's project."

He added that they expect to formally sign the agreement sometime within the next week.

"I think it is going to be good news for the township," Brooks said.

Once the owners get all the paperwork in order, they expect go before the governing body to present a concept plan.

"We have been working on a plan that would incorporate all four of the properties, six acres and about 1,000 linear feet of waterfront into a plan that we hope everybody is going to get, not just for the developer but a real nice amenity for the community," Brooks said.

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Four Neptune property owners on brink of finalizing mega development deal.