A Sleep Inn Hotel, the Coney Island area’s first new hotel in many decades, is nearing completion at Stillwell Avenue and Avenue Z, just north of Coney Island Creek. Mahesh Ratjani, one of the partners in the project, tells ATZ they hope to open in three months. Under construction since the last quarter of 2013 and originally projected to open by the beginning of 2015, the hotel awaits a certificate of occupancy. According to DOB records, the 12,989 square foot, four-story hotel occupies a 13,000 square foot lot. Sleep Inn is a member of the Choice Hotels Group.
As we noted in a post that was the first to report the new construction in December 2013, there are currently no hotels in the Coney Island area and it’s been many decades since a new one opened. The long-shuttered, 110-year-old Terminal Hotel across from Stillwell Terminal was destroyed by fire last year. The grand Half Moon Hotel, built on the Boardwalk in 1927, was later turned into a geriatric center before being demolished in 1996.
The City’s rezoning of Coney Island included the upzoning of three Thor Equities-owned properties on the south side of Surf Avenue between Stillwell and Jones Walk for hotels up to 30 stories. In public hearings, we argued against high rises — including hotels — on the south side of Surf, saying it would destroy instead of enhance Coney Island’s economic potential as an amusement and tourism destination. As it turns out, a hotel has yet to be built on Surf Avenue and we can only hope it never will be. Instead, the Coney Island area’s first new hotel in decades is located in a much more suitable location north of the amusement area with easy access to the Belt Parkway.
Ratjani and his partners own 15 hotels in New York and New Jersey, including the Comfort Inn off the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park. The vacant lot at 2590 Stillwell Avenue was purchased for $1.9 million in 2007, according to Property Shark. The property is conveniently located off the Cropsey Ave/Coney Island exit of the Belt Parkway. The area is technically on the border of Gravesend and Bath Beach, though frequently identified as part of Coney Island. The closest subway stop is Bay 50th, one stop from Coney’s Stillwell Terminal, on the D line.
UPDATE October 25, 2015
Our first report of the new construction, in December 2013, and this one posted last spring, have been appearing in our Top Ten Posts over the past week or so. Sleep Inn Coney Island, as the new hotel is called, finally opened 10 days ago. Rates start at $119 per night and include free breakfast, wi-fi, and other amenities.
Related posts on ATZ…
February 13, 2015: Coney Island 2015: IHOP Franchisee Signs Lease for 5,400-Square-Foot Surf Ave Store
January 21, 2015: Coney Island 2015: Wahlburgers Signage Goes Up at Thor’s Retail Building
January 29, 2015: Coney Island 2015: Subway Cafe, Sushi Lounge, IHOP, Checkers, Johnny Rockets
September 13, 2013: Coney Island Always: Visiting the Big CI Year-Round
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“a much more suitable location north of the amusement area with easy access to the Belt Parkway”? I mean, I guess so. But this isn’t exactly a pleasant walk into the amusement area. I can’t imagine that a significant number of people would stay at this place primarily to do anything amusement/beach related on Coney Island. It’s not a charming, picturesque location.
I know nothing is going to change your opinion on this, but as you note there were hotels on Mermaid Ave and on the Boardwalk during Coney’s golden era where people stayed to actually enjoy Coney Island. Hotels and amusement complemented each other and I think they would yet again.
Proximity to the Belt Parkway on the other hand means people can go elsewhere easily, and this hotel will likely serve a market of people doing other things who happened to get a better rate there than elsewhere. I’d imagine a lot of people staying there will never cross Coney Island Creek.
The new Sleep Inn’s proximity to Coney could be a harbinger of more hotels to come if it does well. It’s just one subway stop from Stillwell, which makes it convenient for people with business or family in Coney or other parts of South Brooklyn. People who travel here for the Mermaid Parade frequently ask where’s the nearest hotel and were told Sheepshead Bay are already expressing interest.
The Coney Island amusements of the past covered a much larger area, encompassing all of “The Island” with grand hotels in Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach where people from Manhattan would rent rooms for the summer! There were also small hotels and rooms for rent along Surf, the Bowery and Boardwalk.
Since then most of these areas have been given over completely to residential and retail development. Even Joe Sitt, who won the zoning to build hotels on the south side of Surf on property formerly zoned for amusements, wanted to build residential condos, as Fred Trump tried but failed to do on the Steeplechase site in the 1960s. Sadly, the present-day amusement area was shrunk to just a few blocks by the rezoning of 2009. Unless a Coney Island hotel has a water park, I doubt it would have enough business or attract tourists year round.