Bank Site Proposed For Hotel For Sale In Point Pleasant Beach

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — A hotel proposed for the former Bank of America site appears to have been scrapped, as the bank property has been listed for sale.

The former bank at the corner of Route 35 and Arnold Avenue was listed for sale for $4.9 million on Monday with Hubbard Park Real Estate in Red Bank.

The property had been the centerpiece of a projected $30 million proposal announced in May 2023 that was to include a 58-room Wyndam Hotel, boutique retail shops and 28 luxury apartments. It would have needed approval from the Point Pleasant Beach Planning Board.

Mayor Doug Vitale said no site plans were submitted for the project for the planning board to consider.

Messages left with Hubbard Park Real Estate and Wyndam Hotels were not returned as of Wednesday evening.

A Lombardi Residential officer on Tuesday said the apartment proposal is moving forward for the half of the property that fronts on Route 35 and McLean Avenue.

When the hotel project was announced, then-Mayor Paul Kanitra called it the cornerstone of revitalizing the downtown area, and estimated it would bring $400,000 in potential tax revenue for the borough’s $15 million budget. The anticipated revenue from the project had been estimated at $10 million.

Read more: Proposed $30M Hotel, Apartments Would Transform Point Pleasant Beach, Mayor Says

People who had opposed the project raised questions about parking in particular, as public parking is at a premium throughout the borough, and the proposed project would have eliminated public parking that exists at the site.

The Hubbard Park Real Estate listing describes it as a premium location, adding: "This property has endless potential...bring your vision and creativity to transform this prime location. Walking distance to restaurants, shopping, and NJ transit."

Vitale, who said he had heard just recently that the hotel plan had been scrapped, said he has started to think about potential projects that he would like to see but offered no specifics.

"It has to be something that's going to be best for the town, and hopefully with a quick turnaround," Vitale said. "I don't want to see it sit vacant for a long time."

The Bank of America site shut down its interior operations in 2019 and closed the ATMs at the site in 2021, officials said.

The property has been a bank dating back to 1902, when it was home to Ocean County National Bank, but the building no longer has historic construction that can be saved due to changes made over the decades, said Greg Cox, who was chairman of the borough’s Historic Preservation Commission at the time and was the architect of the proposed hotel and the proposed apartment complex.

Note: This article and its headlines have been updated to clarify that the proposed apartment complex is separate from the proposed hotel. Patch regrets the confusion.