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February 8, 2005
ASBURY PARK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WINS RENAMING CONTEST
FOR NEW CONDO BUILDING - THE ESPERANZA OF ASBURY PARK
ASBURY PARK, N.J.- Daphney Lezin received the surprise
of her young life today.
Called to a special assembly attended by fellow
students of Asbury Park High School, Daphney received a $10,000 U.S. Savings
Bond from Metro Homes, LLC, as the winner of an unusual contest to rename
a luxury condominium building Metro plans to build in the city's Oceanfront
Asbury Redevelopment District.
Metro also donated a $5,000 check to Asbury
Park High School.
The building, which will house 224 luxury
condominium homes on a square-block site bounded by Ocean and Kingsley Avenues
and Third and Fourth Streets, will be called The Esperanza of Asbury Park,
according to Hoboken-based Metro, which sponsored the renaming competition. The
name -- which means "hope" in Spanish -- was suggested by Ms. Lezin
because "the building brings a lot of hope for our city."
"This building would give the city
a wonderful foundation while attracting people from many places," the
student wrote in an essay which accompanied her submission. "The
name may be unfamiliar to some, but I think the mystery of the name will make
people more curious to find out why it was named that way, so they will be
more tempted to visit Asbury Park and its Esperanza."
The contest
grew out of a Letter to the Editor to a local newspaper written by singer/song
writer Bruce Springsteen, who has long been identified with Asbury Park. In
it, he suggests that the building's original name -- The Rising -- be changed
out of respect for his 2002 Grammy-winning album and song, also named The Rising.
"We named the building 'The Rising' to symbolize the rebirth of Asbury
Park, which is currently undergoing a $1.25 billion redevelopment plan, and
not for the Springsteen album," stated Dean S. Geibel, Managing Partner
of Metro Homes. "But we appreciated Mr. Springsteen's concerns,
and decided that the right thing to do was to change the name in a manner that
would also give something back to the community."
The contest was open to students in Kindergarten through
12th grade who either reside in Asbury Park or attend the Asbury Park school
district. A panel
of judges, which included representatives from the City of Asbury Park and
Metro Homes, chose the winner out of hundreds of submissions.
"We received a number of excellent suggestions," notes Paul Fried,
another Metro Partner. "But the judges felt that The Esperanza best
symbolizes our hopes for the building and why it will be a keystone for the
tremendous efforts now underway to revitalize Asbury Park."
Metro Homes'
development plan, currently awaiting official approval by the city, calls for
two residential towers connected by three stories of parking and ground-floor
retail space. The building replaces the remains of a partially-built residential
project that was abandoned during construction in 1989 and has been an eyesore
along the beachfront ever since.
Once the plans are approved by the city, the
Hoboken-based developer plans to expedite completion of the development by
rebuilding rather than demolishing the entire existing structure.
The building
will offer full services with a 24-hour concierge, spa, game rooms, a restaurant
and many hotel-like amenities. The studios and one-to-four-bedroom homes will
offer amenities and features similar to those found in upscale Manhattan residential
towers.
When completed, Asbury Park's redevelopment effort will yield approximately
3,000 new residential units and a 450,000-square-foot retail/entertainment
component.
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