Any questions for Asbury Park retail redeveloper?
Gary Mottola, managing director for Madison Marquette, the company that is handling Asbury Park's beachfront retail redevelopment, will be meeting with the Asbury Park Press editorial board next Monday, June 11. We are hoping he will provide us with a more specific blueprint for what is planned for the Casino, the retail area adjacent to it, the pavilions and the retail on the west side of Ocean Avenue.
Do you have any questions you would like us to ask him? Post them here, on my blog, or e-mail them to me at rbergmann@app.com.
Do you have any questions you would like us to ask him? Post them here, on my blog, or e-mail them to me at rbergmann@app.com.
posted by Randy Bergmann at 11:52 AM
8 Comments:
Randy I'll give a heads up to the folks at the Asbury Park Yahoo Group. No doubt you'll get lots of input from them.
Here are a few of the questions that have been e-mailed to me to ask Madison Marquette at Monday's editorial board meeting. Keep them coming:
Is it true MM plans to have rides of sorts like in previous times? I know at a meeting they said there would be. But does that statement still hold true? Or was that just a statement to catch the public's attention? I'd like to see that type of atmosphere again. Blinking lights, signs, "fun."
Does MM have any plans of negotiating, or trying to reopen the part of Lake Ave that was closed off? Or are they statisfied with this change?
Will the actual boardwalk itself be renovated in any fashion? I see renderings where the boardwalk looks very different in shape. The boardwalk had to be updated as part of the agreement by Oceanfront Asbury. Was it a fast job on purpose? Because in the long run, someone like MM would come along to update it?
1. Up until the last decade or so, both the Paramount Theater and Convention Hall were able to buck the trend of the rest of the city and attract a fair amount of shows and concerts (gem shows, classic car shows, Metro Lyric Opera). Yet recently they have lain dormant to the detriment of both the city and region. What is Madison Marquette’s plan to legitimately (meaning more than just a Stone Pony-style paint job) restore these two spaces and book shows that will actually attract sold-out audiences? Will they bring in an experienced promoter (like John Scher in the 70s) to book shows that would appeal to a wide audience?
2.) One thing that sets Asbury Park apart from other resorts like Seaside, Point Pleasant and Keansburg is the Kilgen pipe organ within Convention Hall. Is Madison Marquette aware of both its historic significance and commercial potential (free summer concerts and open windows bringing pedestrians in to vendors in the arcade) and what steps are the company taking to help restore the organ and put it back to full-time use?
3.) What exactly is the plan for the Casino? Will the carousel return? Will a new one be installed?
4.) Will the boardwalk/casino arcade be reconnected to Ocean Grove’s boardwalk? And will Madison Marquette work with Ocean Grove on projects that could be mutually beneficial to both towns?
5.) Even in AP’s darkest days, the beach was packed every Memorial Day weekend thanks to WNEW-FM’s annual beach party and concert. Bearing in mind that station no longer exists, will Madison Marquette consider inviting another equally influential media outlet (radio/television) to host a similar event at the beginning of each beach season in order to attract customers to the boardwalk and the town in general?
6.) Asbury Park is woefully short on hotel rooms. Is Madison Marquette in a position to either restore former hotels like the Metropolitan or build new ones in order to attract both vacationers and small conventions that could fill Convention Hall? If yes, will they be real hotels and not another Flamingo?
7.) Asbury Park is also woefully short on parking, particularly on the south end of town. How will (or can) Madison Marquette address that as more retail and entertainment outlets open up?
8.) Will there be bathing pavilions with changing lockers (and possibly freshwater pool)?
9.) The town’s dire financial straits have led to a “we’ll take what we can get” mentality that has given us skate parks inside the former carousel house and strip clubs along Kingsley Avenue. What aesthetic steps will Madison Marquette take to prevent Asbury Park from becoming a clone of Seaside or Keansburg?
10.) Please address the rumors of moving the Stone Pony into the Casino, which would be akin to moving the Empire State Building to Staten Island.
11.) Asbury Park (and the shore in general) has long been home to a glut of rock music clubs fighting for the same audience. Will Madison Marquette diversify the market by opening clubs that cater to different genres? (R & B, house, reggae, jazz, etc.)
12.) What provisions are Madison Marquette making to ensure that retail jobs (ride operators, projectionists, sales clerks) will go to qualified Asbury Park residents?
13.) This last one is not so much a question as a comment. The trend toward building condominiums in AP has been justified by the groundless axiom that the jet-age and the rise of Great Adventure conspired to kill the amusement-themed Asbury Park of old. Were this true, Point Pleasant and Seaside would have fallen on equally hard times. They did not. Please bear that in mind as you encounter the usual broken record of resistance to thinking outside the box. Thank you.
Here are two more questions sent to me by e-mail in advance of Monday's editorial board meeting with Madison Marquette:
Will Madison Marquette be following the original WRA plan currently in place or is it seeking to make changes to it? If so, what are they?
Does Madison Marquette see the new Asbury Park as a retail and entertainment destination or something different?
What are the specific plans for the pavillion north of Convention Hall?
1. At the luncheon, you seemed frustrated about the current school situation in Asbury and the the fact that it is an Abbott District. Then you stopped, other then to say it has to be fixed. Care to comment further?
2. Same talk as above, you inidcated the original plan for Wesley Grove Entertainment district, was not that good - with retail on floor 2 etc and you need to connect that to the proposed Casino. Do you envison a bigger entertainment district - with the Casino, Wesley Lake and the land north? Do you have a hotel ready to go in? Do you see that to bring families you need a hotel that can cater to the "old family" - somewhat affordable?
3. What is the nature of the relationship between you co and Asbury Partners? Is it for a period of time, how long?
4. You indicated that the "green spaces" along the boardwalk need to be "activated". In the past, these lots were either mini-golf or rides. What do you envision?
5. Can we something other then BARS opening on the boardwalk. That seems to be the only focus- how to sell beer with cheesy banners. I like to bring my kids - even just to walk. Can the bar theme be toned down?
6. How about re-opneing the public bath/locker rooms at 4th avenue and the tunnel to the beach? Nice to bring a family to the beach with a place to clean-up. Opinion? Time frame?
7. 2010 seems to be long time to wait to see the Casino get some new life. We are impressed with the clean-up - roofing, removing the boards etc. What will occur between now and then and is 2010 a real target date?
8. What drew you and MM to Asbury Park?
9. What is MM's time frame for:
a) 50% of the plan being developed
b) 75% of the plan
c) 100% of the plan
10. How much is MM putting in of MM's money, and how much has MM secured from 3rd parties in the "Asbury Fund". What type of return is MM anticipating?
11. Can individuals invest in this fund - is it a REIT?
12. Did you ever look at some of those message boards?
13. How about the asburyboardwalk.com? ):
Thank you and the best of luck in the future.
David Dorfman
Thanks everyone for the great questions. Here are a few others that were sent to me by e-mail. Keep them coming.
1 - It might be worthwhile to find out if Madison Marquette (perhaps working with the UEZ?) has any plans for an "inviting" make-over of the west-to-east traffic corridors that lead the public to the beachfront. The main artery, of course, is Asbury Avenue.
Springwood Avenue, which turns into Lake Avenue at Main Street, has yet to get redeveloped while Sunset Avenue is residential.
2 - There has been a lot of construction in Asbury Park over the past few years with the building of new condo buildings and someday a flood of new people will be living in the town. Unfortunately, there are still many, many buildings that are crumbling that look horrible and exist near these new condos and there is still an awful lot of crime, violence, drugs and prostitution in the city. Does your company have any plans or ideas for how to change this side of Asbury Park? And do you think the condos will be filled unless the crime is taken care of first?
3 - Given Asbury Park's long musical history and the success of events ranging from the recent Wave Gathering Festival to the WNEW shows on the beach, would you consider having the New Jersey Music Hall of Fame play a role in your redevelopment? With such diverse names and musical genres from Count Basie to Frank Sinatra to Bruce Springsteen and Whitney Houston among hundreds of well known stars from the Garden State, a museum set up like the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland could easily be replicated here and attract tens of thousands of visitors each year. Are you looking for such an entertainment-based anchor? Or do you think Asbury Park would be better off moving away from tourism?
My questions would be: What are you going to do to make Asbury Park a unique and spectacular destination?
Will you listen to the yahoos who worship ridiculous idols like Tillie and the Stone Pony, and who mention Bruce Springsteen every third word? The ones who want a Fridays and a Baby Gap down there?
Or will you take the opportunity you've been given to start with a clean slate, and be bold in your vision of what Asbury Park could be...a sophisticated seaside city which could become one of the premier vacation, resort, and arts and entertainment (in that order)destinations on the east coast?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Will Madison Marquette limit its activities to the oceanfront? I'm thinking specifically of Springwood Avenue. See the Madonna Carter Jackson book "West Side Story." That street was just as happening as Ocean Ave. back in the day and a group like MM could maybe help bring that back.
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