Somerville OKs plan for boutique hotel downtown
A proposal to open a boutique hotel in downtown Somerville has been approved by the borough’s Planning Board.
The hotel, which will have 40 to 60 rooms depending on final architectural plans, is proposed to be on the top two stories of a five-story building to be constructed in Edgewood Properties’ Somerville Town Center on West Main and Davenport streets.
The first floor of the building that will front on Davenport Street will be a food court, similar to what is in shopping malls.
On the second and third floors will be a “high-end spa,” said Ron Aulenbach, director of engineering, planning and development for Edgewood Properties. No tenant has been signed for the space, though some potential tenants have expressed interest, he said.
The rooftop will have a swimming pool and cabanas for the residents of The Edge apartments in Somerville Town Center and a bar that may be open to the public, Aulenbach said.
Aulenbach also told the Planning Board that the changing retail environment prompted the developer to drop plans for retail uses on the first floor of the five-story building in favor of the food hall.
That has also led Edgewood Properties to increase the square footage for a restaurant and decrease the space for retail on the first floor of the apartment building now being completed on West Main Street, he explained.
Mayor Brian Gallagher, who also sits on the Planning Board, said the changes proposed by Edgewood are “smart.”
“It’s good business,” he said, adding that Edgewood is “adapting to what the market is demanding now,” which is a challenge for many downtowns which are not adapting “quick enough.”
The mayor also welcomed the idea of a hotel in downtown. “The hotel is a good use,” he said. “I see hotels popping up in and around Somerset County.”
The guests in those hotels, he said, come to eat and shop in Somerville, which has “a low impact on the borough’s infrastructure but a high impact on businesses.”
The proposal was unanimously approved by the Planning Board at its Oct. 9 meeting.
Somerville Town Center, which also includes ShopRite, a bank and a parking garage, sparked a revival of residential development in the county seat and has played a role in the revitalization of Main Street.
Edgewood Properties, owned by Bridgewater resident Jack Morris, also owns the Brookside Gardens apartments in Somerville.
Edgewood Properties, based in Piscataway, has a portfolio of approximately 150 commercial and multifamily properties worth more than $5 billion, predominately in New Jersey, but also in five other states, including Florida and California.