Boardwalk empire: a new development seeks to preserve Asbury Park's creative spirit
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

For years, Asbury Park, down the New Jersey shore, has mostly been known as one
thing: a pre-eminent music destination for legendary bands. Be it the Ramones, The Clash, Bon Jovi or, most notably, Bruce Springsteen (whose debut album is titled Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ), many bastions of rock culture have played here since the 1960s. With its soulful seaside boardwalk, vibrant nightlife, Jazz Age heritage and 1920s architecture peppering its periphery, the city was a picture-perfect piece of good ol’ Americana – that is, until the late 1970s.
By 1984, Asbury Park had been in a long decline. Grab-happy developers bought huge chunks of land designated for redevelopment but were then stalled by economic recession, leaving areas untouched for almost 30 years. In 2009, the real estate firm iStar acquired a huge proportion of the city, thanks to developers defaulting on loans it had given, providing a rare chance to redevelop a city.
Now, 32 years, multiple urban plans and huge efforts to convince locals later, iStar’s vision for Asbury Park has been mapped out in eight redevelopment projects, and that number is rising. Starting with The Asbury, the town’s first hotel opening in 50 years, followed by the Monroe – a 34-unit condo designed by New Jersey-born, Miami-based architect Chad Oppenheim – and the tentatively named 1101 Ocean, an ocean-front mixed-use complex with an upmarket
50-room hotel on top, iStar’s plans promise to restore the city to its former glory, and more.
‘When I discovered this place, an hour and ten minutes away from New York, 35 acres
of empty land on the boardwalk, between historic buildings, it was like, this cannot be,’ says Anda Andrei, creative director and design lead of the overall Asbury Park project. ‘It’s a quirk that it exists. I felt like I was in the Wild West at the beginning of America, discovering it like, “This is my land!” It’s an opportunity that rarely comes and Jay [Sugarman, iStar CEO] realised it. It is a legacy project for him, and for me too.’
The silver-haired Romanian, who set up on her own in 2013 after a 29-year stint with Ian Schrager, finally as president of design, is focused on preserving the character of the place. For each project, she has enlisted different talents, such as Oppenheim, architect Gary Handel and interior designer Dominic Kozerski. ‘This had to be done in a unique, one-of-a-kind, caring way. Not just go in with bulldozers, build a lot of condos, sell them, make a buck and get out. Jay felt it was his legacy not to destroy the soul of this town, not to make it another developer special. Very few people do that. Almost nobody,’ she says.
With The Asbury – a stylish hotel designed by Stonehill & Taylor and Bonetti Kozerski with a rooftop bar, pool and rooftop lawn that hosts film screenings – open since May, Andrei is emboldened about the next phase. ‘Now the hotel is open, it offers greater credibility for who I can bring in. Inviting these creatives and sharing your vision, you really had to seduce people with words.
Now there’s more physicality to the concept.’
Andrei, who also directed Aby Rosen’s 11 Howard property in New York, says, ‘When I started this, I couldn’t stop connecting it with the year Ian got the Delano in South Beach and we went there and it was nothing. What the Delano did for the whole South Beach, I wish that it would happen here too. This is way above doing a hotel. It’s much more challenging and complex, with social and economic implications. In general, I find the boutique hotels got out of control and I actually dislike most of them. Going back to classic is right and a return to less design is right.’
The development of Asbury Park (clockwise from bottom left)
Vive: Completed January 2014. With 28 townhouses, this is the first residential development on the city’s waterfront since 2007.
South Grand: Completed June 2015
. A complex of 28 four-storey townhouses, this is
the first development by a national homebuilder
in Asbury Park since 1984.
Monroe: Due to complete December 2016.
A 34-unit condo designed by Anda Andrei
in collaboration with Chad Oppenheim.
The Asbury hotel: Completed May 2016.
A 110-room hotel designed by Anda Andrei with Stonehill & Taylor and interior design firm Bonetti Kozerski. The first new hotel in Asbury Park in
50 years, it was formerly a Salvation Army building.
Asbury Lanes: Due to complete 2017.
This legendary music and bowling venue
will be carefully updated by iStar.
1101 Ocean Residential and Hotel: Due to complete summer 2018.
A residential complex designed by Anda Andrei, together with architect Gary Handel, landscape architects Madison Cox and Bonetti Kozerski.
A 50-room boutique hotel sits on top. The complex has stood vacant for 20 years and is one of
the tallest buildings along the Jersey shore.
As originally featured in the October 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*211)
A tower on The Asbury hotel’s rooftop, which is used to project films onto the wall in the evenings
INFORMATION
For more information visit The Asbury Hotel’s website (opens in new tab)
Photography: Adrian Gaut; Illustrator: Joshua Checkley
ADDRESS
The Asbury
210 5th Avenue
Asbury Park
NJ 07712
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
Pei-Ru Keh is the US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru has held various titles at Wallpaper* since she joined in 2007. She currently reports on design, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru has taken a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars and actively seeks out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
Revea skin-mapping app uses Nasa technology in pursuit of a perfect complexion
The Revea skin-mapping app may be the next revolution in customised skincare, with unique camera-phone diagnostics
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Sir Jony Ive designs folding red nose for Comic Relief
Sir Jony Ive and his LoveFrom team create this year’s Comic Relief red nose, for the first time in folding form
By Martha Elliott • Published
-
Last chance to see: Laure Prouvost's Light Hall commission at National Museum in Oslo
The Turner Prize-winning artist takes over the cavernous space atop Oslo’s new National Museum with an ethereal installation
By Will Jennings • Published
-
Hither Hills house in Montauk cascades into the foliage
A Hither Hills villa designed by New York-based Robert Young Architects, peeks through lush foliage in its green Montauk locale
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Jackson Hole retreat is conceived as ‘a geologic remnant in the landscape’
ShineMaker Residence is a Jackson Hole retreat tuned to perfection by its authors, CLB Architects and HSH Interiors
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Hosono House is an urban retreat in the heart of San Francisco
Hosono House by Ryan Leidner Architecture blends minimalism, nature and an awkward plot to craft a modern urban retreat in the middle of San Francisco
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
North Salem Farm updates local vernacular for the 21st century
North Salem Farm by New York-based architecture studio Worrell Yeung offers a new take to the region’s agrarian vernacular for the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Spectacular Wyoming ranch sits within a restored working landscape
This Wyoming ranch by CLB Architects offers a new approach to the Western architectural tradition, combining daring and functional modern design with a welcoming character
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Columbia County house combines prefabricated methods with meticulous planning
The House of Courtyards, a new Columbia County house, is a refined living space in the heart of a secluded wooded plot
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Cheng+Snyder transforms suburban Californian backlot into flexible home
The Roommate House by Cheng+Snyder in Oakland exemplifies fresh approaches to planning for ever-changing demographics
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Stage architecture, from Disney to dance
Clever stage architecture makes or breaks a cultural experience – from Yellow Studio’s set for Disney’s new live-action Beauty and the Beast, to more immersive structures in the genre
By Martha Elliott • Published