Holmdel Planning Board OKs Bell Works Hotel

HOLMDEL, NJ — On Tuesday night, the Holmdel Planning Board approved a request from Somerset Development to build a hotel on the roof of the Bell Works complex.

"The Planning Board voted in favor of the hotel at Bell Works with several conditions, the main being that the hotel can’t be used as some type of long-term housing," Board member and Township Committeeman Mike Nikolis told Patch.

Somerset, owned by CEO Ralph Zucker, owns the historic Bell Works complex in Holmdel, and is currently in the midst of ambitiously trying to redevelop the property into a business, residential and commercial hub.

This will be a 200-room, one-story hotel on the roof of Bell Works. Zucker says it will mainly be used by corporate executives and white-collar Bell Works employees who work at the several tech companies on site. The hotel will be built along the roof's perimeter, leaving Bell Works' massive skylight-roof unencumbered. A rendering of the hotel is above. Zucker says he has several hotel chains bidding to open there, but would not reveal which.

Parking was also an issue, as Somerset is required to provide 4,752 parking spaces if they build the hotel. But they say they needed fewer — 4,329 spaces. They requested a parking variance from Holmdel, and were approved.

"In the end, we agreed valet parking can be an option for whomever the hotel operator is," Nikolis said.

A timetable for when the hotel will open has not been released.