Esperanza Developers Plan to Add Drama to Asbury Park Boardwalk By GARRETT STASSE
The Esperanza goes on sale this summer. The condominium project on the Asbury Park beachfront will do it with a visual bang, too, as developer Metro Homes plans to drape the building's likeness around one end of the Fourth Avenue Pavilion. The company will also open model apartments on the beachfront and launch an advertising campaign from here to the big bridge on the Garden State Parkway. Metro Homes won Planning Board approval Monday to use 5,000 square feet of the pavilion, or about a third of the building, to install a sales office, model apartment, finishing materials display and even a device that lets potential buyers see what the view would look like from the unit they are viewing. The main feature would be a cloth called a scrim mounted to the north end of the pavilion painted to look like the Esperanza "Hope" in Spanish which is to be a 224-unit structure with a restaurant, spa, gym and 84 types of units from studio to four-bedroom, 2,500-square- foot apartments, Metro Homes President Dean Geibel said. The exterior will have wave forms on the roof and sides to echo the ocean. He said pile driving should end next week and concrete begun to be poured. The first tower is scheduled to open in May 2008, and the second tower that October. The building would be the third major housing development in the beachfront redevelopment area; two others are under construction, one just north of the Berkeley-Carteret Hotel and the other along Wesley Lake. The construction is the centerpiece of efforts to transform the entire strip to a year-round residential and tourism site. One customer is likely to be Robyn Streisand, Metro Homes' publicity agent. The Ocean Township resident works for a New York City public relations and advertising agency, The Mixx. She said Monday she bought the first unit in the Esperanza, and then outlined an ambitious marketing scheme. The pavilion would be resurfaced and painted in three tan shades to mimic the beach. Large temporary ads touting the sales office would be on either end of the building and what are supposed to look like classified ads will be put on the fence around the Esperanza construction site. A billboard would be erected on the Parkway's southbound side of the Driscoll Bridge and newspaper and other advertising would be bought. But the scrim would be the main attraction. Made of material with holes to prevent wind damage, it would tower over the pavilion and lead the eye to the glass entry, she said. Geibel asked the board for quick approval, even though the company needed a variance for the advertising signage. The signs would cover less than 7 percent of the building but would still be too big under the ordinance. "Our problem is we don't want to miss the spring market," he said. "In my heart I think this is a good thing for the city, too It's going to make the boardwalk a heck of a lot nicer, too." The board agreed. "I think this is a terrific project," board member Steven Troy said. Others agreed. Henry Vaccaro, the builder, approved. "This is a quality, quality project Metro Homes is bringing to Asbury Park. It will bring positive buzz to counter the negatives," he said. The board approved using the pavilion for 18 months; the time Geibel said would be needed to sell the units. They would ask for an extension if needed, his lawyer, Alfred Faiella said. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Great things are happening at Yahoo! Groups. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/lOt0.A/hOaOAA/yQLSAA/Y2tolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
