Rendering of Lamberti's new restaurant.
MARGATE Lamberti's Restaurant and Sunset Marina is being prepped for demolition and could be rebuilt in time for restaurant goers to enjoy Luciano Lamberti's fine Italian fare sometime this summer.
Lamberti's announced on its Facebook page Monday, March 25 that construction would soon begin at the restaurant, which has been in operation at the site for 20 years, and posted renderings of the front and rear views of the new building.
The old building has given us all she can give, the post said.
The City of Margate, which owned the restaurant and leased it to Lamberti's 9707 Amherst Marina, LLC for $500 a year, turned over ownership of the site earlier this year in exchange for Lamberti replacing the city-owned bulkhead beneath the restaurant and creating 24 public parking spaces at his 64-space parking lot a half-block away on Monroe Avenue.
The spaces will be available to the public during the daytime hours and will be reserved for the restaurant during evening hours.
Lamberti had 18 years remaining on the lease when the deal was finalized. The city negotiated the trade-off over the last two years in an effort to replace the crumbling bulkhead along Amherst Avenue and bring it up to the new FEMA standards.
Although the lease required Lamberti to maintain 231 feet of city-owned bulkhead that fronts the restaurant, he agreed to replace an additional 357 of bulkhead that fronts his marina. Most of the work has been completed.
The new bulkhead was built 2-feet in front of the existing bulkhead, which located the new bulkhead on Lamberti's riparian property. The estimated cost for Lamberti to replace 588 feet of bulkhead was about $882,000, city officials said. He will be required to maintain the bulkhead in perpetuity.
Commissioner John Amodeo said the agreement would not only relieve the city of the cost of replacing a significant portion of bulkhead but would also enhance resiliency against future storms by increasing the bulkhead height to the required 8-foot elevation. It would also allow the city to modernize the area for the good of the city, he said.
With the bulkhead replaced, the city can now move forward with design and construction of a promenade across the entire length of the Amherst Avenue bulkhead.
Lamberti obtained all the necessary DEP and CAFRA approvals needed to rebuild the restaurant and replace the bulkhead.
The Board of Commissioners in March 2015 approved Lamberti's original request to demolish the bayfront restaurant and rebuild it maintaining the building's current footprint. He received Planning Board approval for the project on Nov. 17, 2016 and was granted an extension of those approvals on Oct. 25, 2018.
Rendering of Lamberti's new restaurant.
When completed, Lamberti will be required to pay annual taxes on the updated assessed value of the property, Mayor Michael Becker said.
According to the Facebook post, the new structure will be two stories, doubling its size, and possibly have a deck for al fresco dining. The new dining space will allow the restaurant to be open year-round, adding a new option to the Amherst Avenue dining scene during the off-season.
The post stated the building could be completed by July, provided there are no setbacks during construction.
Attempts to reach Lamberti for comment were unsuccessful.
