Mayor and Council seek bidders for Seasonal Restaurant Concession on Ninth Ave Pier

With piles of snow on the ground, and another blizzard on the way, it’s hard to envision a beautiful July evening enjoying dinner and cocktails on a pier with a spectacular view of the Belmar marina and the sun setting over the Shark River. But that’s the sizzle the Mayor and Council are hoping will attract more than 80 area restaurateurs who have been invited to attend an informational meeting on February 11, 2010 at 9 a.m. at the Belmar Municipal Building. The purpose of the meeting is to outline the Borough’s plans to bid out a concession to operate a seasonal bar and grill on the Ninth Avenue Pier, and get feedback from interested bidders so that the Borough can properly prepare bid specs for the project.

Over the past decade, the Borough has upgraded its marina into one of the finest facilities of its kind on the east coast, including more than 70 slips available for transient boaters who can rent on a daily or weekly basis. This spring, the Borough will start the next phase of upland marina improvements, which are designed to make the already popular marina a top destination for transient boaters in the New York metropolitan area, as well for land-based visitors and especially the residents of Belmar. These improvements will include the renovation this spring of the Ninth Avenue pier to include not a seasonal bar and grill, but also landscaping and seating areas for the public, a nautical flag pole and memorial area to honor Pat and Sandy Breslin, areas equipped for festival or seasonal vendors to display their goods and a booth where visitors can book kayak rentals, charter fishing, diving and sightseeing trips, eco-tours other activities.

The restaurant concession will be offered with a Special Concessionaire Permit from the State of New Jersey to serve alcohol pursuant to N.J.S.A. 33:1-42 and N.J.A.C. 13:2-5.2 (liquor license). The permit will be subject to limited hours of service and other conditions, which will be discussed at the February 11 informational session.

Currently there is only one location for service of food in the marina, a luncheonette located in the Borough’s Harbor Master building. This concession is also currently up for lease. The Mayor and Council are preparing bid specifications for both locations, and would like input from experienced restaurant owners, who may be interested in leasing this space and/or the Ninth Avenue Pier. Although 80 restaurateurs have been invited to attend, the informational meeting is open to all interested potential bidders, as well as the public at large, and the Borough plans to use information and ideas obtained during the informational meeting when preparing the bid and lease documents.

This bid opportunity is not in lieu of, but rather in addition to, the Borough’s longer-term plan to replace the Harbor Master building with a much larger, permanent building which will include a fine-dining restaurant with Concession Permit License on the second floor, as well as a variety of first-floor uses including a casual foods, ice cream, bait, tackle and chandlery, and other marine-related retail uses. The Borough has applied to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for a CAFRA permit to develop this larger facility, most likely pursuant to a long-term ground lease, and will hold additional meetings in the future once the necessary permit has been obtained.

Anyone interested in attending the February 11, 2010 meeting or in leasing the new outdoor concessions on the Ninth Avenue pier and/or the current luncheonette, and would like to review either the draft lease agreements should contact Borough Administrator Robbin Kirk at rkirk@boro.belmar.nj.us

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