HOLMDEL, NJ — Somerset, the developer who owns Bell Works in Holmdel, released additional renderings Wednesday of what their proposed rooftop hotel will look like.
On Jan. 30, the Holmdel Planning Board unanimously approved a request from Somerset to build a 200-room hotel on the roof of Bell Works. Once built, this would be one of the largest hotels in the Jersey Shore area: The Sheraton in Eatontown has 208 rooms and Ocean Place Resort and Spa in Long Branch has 256 rooms. As Patch already reported, a Holiday Inn Express was also just approved to be built next to the existing Holiday Inn in Hazlet. That will be four stories, with 93 rooms.
The lobby of the hotel will actually be in the downstairs main atrium of Bell Works, and an elevator will take guests up to the roof, where all the rooms will be. There will also be a full-service bar and party space on the roof, an outdoor lounge area and an infinity pool with sweeping views of the Monmouth County countryside.
The rooftop deck of Bell Works is already open, if you want to check it out.
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Ralph Zucker, CEO of Somerset Development, has not named a hotel operator yet, so it’s unclear when construction would even begin. But he said some of the “premier hotel and hospitality operators in the country” have submitted proposals.
Built in the 1960s, Bell Works was originally the famed Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs facility. Somerset bought the property and is currently in the midst of revamping it for its 21st century second act: As a sprawling office complex, with high-end restaurants, a gym, a salon, the hotel and a Montessori school. So far, it’s full steam ahead: The Holmdel public library relocated to Bell Works this winter, and Bells Works office space is 75 percent leased.
The state of New Jersey has given iCIMS and WorkWave millions in tax breaks in exchange for choosing to relocate to Bell Works: iCIMS was approved for a 10-year, $38 million tax credit by the state and WorkWave was granted a $15.7 million tax break from the state in return for moving there.
Holmdel Planning Board member and Township Committeeman Mike Nikolis already told Patch he thinks there is enough business at Bell Works for a hotel.
“There is enough business at Bell Works to sustain it, especially with iCIMS moving in. And there is definitely a hotel shortage in the area,” Nikolis said, of why he approved the hotel.
Len Carella, a vice president at software company iCIMS, agrees.
“Having the ability (for visitors) to stay close to where our office is has always been a challenge for us,” Carella told the Asbury Park Press. Having a hotel on site was actually a deciding factor for why they chose to lease at Bell Works. Out-of-town corporate executives can relax, dine and sleep without ever having to leave the Bell Works complex.
“The ability to do that in our office is something basically no other company I’ve seen can say they can do,” Carella said.
“We expect that the project’s incredible momentum will allow us to be fully leased by the end of 2018,” vowed said Jeff Garibaldi, President of the Garibaldi Group, which serves as the exclusive broker representing Bell Works.