CAPE MAY – ICONA Resorts CEO Eustace Mita took his case to the public for a seven-story hotel on the site of the old Beach Theater in Cape May City, Sept. 1. Mita hosted the public discussion at the city’s Convention Hall.
The hotel and retail complex Mita proposes would cover the area from Stockton Place to Gurney Street and sit opposite the Convention Center directly across Beach Avenue.
Mita bought the property in 2019 when he beat out Clint Bunting, a Stone Harbor movie theater entrepreneur. Bunting had hoped to recreate a classic motion picture venue by making use of the Beach Theater façade. Mita paid $6.7 million for the site at a bankruptcy auction.
Mita and David Schultz of DAS Architects shared responsibility for the public presentation at the city’s Convention Hall. DAS Architects listed among its past projects the development of the Reeds at Shelter Haven, a boutique hotel in Stone Harbor.
Mita called the proposed hotel in Cape May a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for the city to redevelop the site with a hotel venue built in the grand style of the early twentieth century. Mita made use of a film made from snapshots of an early twentieth-century Cape May interspersed with pictures of preserved buildings that are still part of the city’s present. He spoke of “a romantic dalliance with the past” mixed with a commitment to “modern realities.”
Conceptual artist renderings with a slight fuzziness to them conveyed the dreamlike aspect of the project, one that would transport the historic landmark city back in time while tending to the very modern tasks of bolstering tourism, providing a necessary partner for Convention Hall and ridding the city of a somewhat deteriorated area.
Mita is aware that he will need public support if he is to get the redevelopment zone designation he now says is essential to the project. That caused him to deviate from his prepared remarks almost immediately.
Instead of sticking to his presentation, Mita went off script as he tried to respond to a handout urging the public to “Say No to a Redevelopment Zone.” The handout was the work of Mark Bednar, whose family owns the nearby Heritage Inn and the more distant South Winds Motel.
Mita engaged Bednar, focusing the discussion on Bednar’s accusations concerning redevelopment.
The thrust of Bednar’s handout was a call for Mita to go through the normal approval process for his proposed hotel without the special benefits of a redevelopment designation. Bednar also hinted at political gamesmanship, accusing Mita of providing financial support for then-mayor Clarence “Chuck” Lear and Deputy Mayor Patricia Hendricks in the 2020 municipal election because they supported the use of a redevelopment designation for the Beach Theater site.
Mita denied that his financial contributions during the campaign were motivated by the proposed project. In an interview with the Herald after the meeting, Mita said he makes a habit of supporting the incumbents in towns where he has a business interest.
Though he spoke of the need for a redevelopment zone, Mita never focused his response on the challenges raised by members of the public. He suggested it would speed up state review of the project, and that the lack of a redevelopment designation would add a minimum of two years to the project schedule.
Mita told the Herald he saw the use of a redevelopment zone as a mechanism to allow specific zoning requirements for a project. It is a method of allowing exceptions specific to a project without the worry of a potentially broader impact on future zoning applications.
Asked in that interview if he would seek tax abatements that often come with redevelopment zones, Mita dismissed any rumors that he was seeking a tax arrangement. “I am not asking for any break on taxes,” he said.
The hotel’s design is what Mita hopes will win public support. The proposed 160 room hotel would be part of a seven-floor structure with 255 valet parking spaces in a four-story indoor garage invisible from the street. The plan calls for eleven retail stores and two restaurants, one on a second floor to be shared with a ballroom. Guest rooms occupy floors three through seven with changing amenities and views. The project is capped by a rooftop complex that includes two pools.
Mita spoke frequently of the design as a return to the “grand hotels” of a lost era, a place exuding a “timeless elegance” while meeting all modern requirements including FEMA and ADA compliance.
Certain themes ran through public comment on the presentation. Along with a concern that Mita is “escaping” normal review processes by asking for a redevelopment zone, another common public perspective was that the “grand hotel” design was too grand. Members of the public asked in various ways if the proposed hotel could be envisioned as a smaller and less elaborate structure. Some expressed concern that the proposed design by its sheer size would be out of place in the Cape May of today which is different in many ways from the resort of 100 years ago.
Although he provided no estimate of cost during his presentation, Mita said later that he expects the project to cost as much as $125 to $150 million.
At the time of his presentation to city council in October 2021, Mita said he would submit an application to the Planning Board within 60 days. Nearly one year later Mita’s perspective has changed.
He now argues that the project can only proceed under the umbrella of a redevelopment zone designation. It’s unclear what will happen to the property–which ICONA Resorts spent $6.7 million on–if he does not get that designation.
Mita is aware of the last time a city administration tried to create a redevelopment zone.
A project associated with local developer Curtis Bashaw involved the block between Washington, Lafayette, Ocean and Franklin streets. That early attempt at a redevelopment zone designation ignited strong public opposition. An overflow crowd at the Jan. 9, 2018 Planning Board meeting led to shouts to “kill it now.” The proposal died with only two affirmative votes.
Mita’s public campaign for support of a redevelopment designation comes just three months before the municipal election.
Former Mayor Chuck Lear, who previously supported a redevelopment zone, is running for a council seat. Four seats out of five are up for grabs, and one incumbent, Deputy Mayor Stacy Sheehan, is unsure if she will stand for reelection. The composition of the council that would decide the redevelopment zone issue could be significantly different after the election.
Mita says he does not believe the ICONA project will be an issue in the municipal election.
Have any thoughts or information on this story? Email vconti@cmcherald.com.
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