The site of a proposed hotel on Hooper Avenue. (Credit: Real Estate Listing)
A plan first approved in 2009 to build a hotel on Hooper Avenue in Toms River has been revived and will return to the planning board more than a decade after its initial authorization.
The developer, LRE TR LLC, received board approval to construct a Residence Inn by Marriott Hotel & Restaurant at 1020 Hooper Avenue, located on the west side of Hooper near the intersection with Walnut Street, approximately across from the OceanFirst Bank headquarters and county social services buildings.
The owner of the property previously received preliminary and final site plan approval as a conditional use by the planning board in a resolution dated July 15, 2009. Per a resolution dated Jan. 15, 2020, the developer received an administrative approval to modify the hotel footprint, increase the impervious coverage and building coverage. There was no record of an extension of the initial approval actually being granted by the board, however, which will bring LRE TR back to town hall later this month.
LRE TR, according to state business records, is owned by Alexander Hartstein, of Lakewood, with a business address linked to a Holiday Inn hotel and banquet complex in East Windsor, Mercer County. The case is being handled locally by attorney Robert C. Shea.
At a hearing scheduled for Sept. 18, the property owner will seek to reaffirm a number of variances and approvals previously granted since local ordinances regarding conditional uses at the site were modified in 2021. The developer was issued a zoning permit in 2022 and has posted bonds for the project, and according to a filing by Shea, would be protected from the zoning changes in 2021. He is further requesting a 4.34-foot height increase and a 0.4 percent reduction in overall building footprint.
Plans for the site, according to public records, call for the construction of either a Courtyard by Marriott hotel or a Residence Inn by Marriott Hotel with a restaurant located on a pad site. It would stand three stories and contain 125 rooms.
The developer will ask for the board to approve a number of variances and extend several that were previously granted. The complex would hold 236 parking spaces, one less than the zoning ordinance requires. There are zero “make ready” spaces for electric vehicle charging, where 10 are normally required, a 16-foot sign is proposed where a 10-foot sign is allowed, and the project does not contain a buffer screening where a 20-foot screening is normally required. There are also variances being sought for the width of parking spaces for both cars and loading zones.
The application will return to the board at its Sept. 18, 2024 meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the township municipal complex.
