New Construction

A new dawn for Crest motel as condos
Pair's experience with motel helps redesign property
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Sunday, March 5, 2006
Updated: Sunday, March 5, 2006

WILDWOOD CREST — Long before Joseph Pirri could talk or walk he was spending summers at the New Jersey shore.

"My mother's been bringing me down (to the Wildwoods) since I was 5 months old," Pirri, now 61, recalled.

His wife, Alice Pirri, soon joined in, coming to the Wildwoods with her husband since they wed in 1975.

Not long after, in 1977, the couple, along with Joseph Pirri's parents, Adele and Carmen, carried on a family tradition of not only visiting but working on the island when they bought the Cavalier Resort Motel on East Toledo Road and the beach.

Pirris have operated rooming houses or motels on the island since the 1940s.

"We worked so hard at it as a business. We raised four kids there. The beach was their playground," Alice Pirri said.

But while the motel was a part of their lives for so long, Joseph Pirri said the couple saw what was going on around them as the island's motels make way for new high-priced condominium complexes.

"You can't build a new motel with all the conveniences people want and make it affordable," Joseph Pirri said.

So, the couple decided their 42-unit motel, built in 1966, had run its course and they started looking around for what to do next. They decided to take advantage of the motel's prime beachfront location and have received the last of the approvals needed to build a luxury 18-unit condominium complex called Aurora Condominiums.

While the Pirri children, now grown, will miss their childhood home, the couple is ready to make the change.

"I had no qualms about it. It was 24 hours a day from May to September. It was a lot of work," Joseph Pirri said of running the seasonal business.

"And we'll still be in the same place," Alice Pirri added, explaining they plan to keep one unit for themselves.

The simple, but neatly kept motel rooms of the Cavalier are being replaced with units that come with as much as 3,361 square feet of living space, most with four bedrooms, plus roomy balconies and private garages.

The largest unit comes in at 4,536 square feet including the garage and balcony space and is priced at just over $3 million. The least expensive unit is priced at $1.39 million.

"We didn't want it to be like all the typical condos. We came up with the idea of private residences that won't have the hustle and bustle of the weekly turnovers of rentals. Space on the beachfront is limited and the beachfront should be premium," Alice Pirri said.

Architect Rhett Jones of RHJ Associates in King of Prussia, Pa., designed the seven story building that will be made of reinforced concrete and come with hurricane shutters, curved, private balconies, a swimming pool, fitness center and other amenities.

Buyers can customize their kitchens and bathrooms, while standard features include ocean views, fireplace hook-ups, security systems and 9-foot ceilings.

What also distinguishes the property is experience, according to the Pirris.

They were able to draw on their 29 years as motel operators in the design phase.

"We've lived on the oceanfront. We know what salt air can do. That's why we have the private garages and materials made to last in this environment," Alice Pirri said.

That first-hand knowledge means they know which light fixtures will last and the building materials ideal for a spot so close to the Atlantic Ocean.

"We've lived through it. We've been through hurricanes. We know which way the wind blows," Alice Pirri said.

The couple believes their experience is essential to the building's success.

"We had a couple of calls from investors and real estate developers. We'd get calls asking, 'Is the Cavalier for sale?'" Alice Pirri said.

But they believed the work should be done by people familiar with the area and the environment.

They started the work in 2003, survived the state's arduous permitting process, and just won the last state approvals through the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act, or CAFRA, process on Feb. 10.

"We wanted it to be a notch above," Joseph Pirri said.

"If you make something ugly …," Alice Pirri said. "It's going to stay there," her husband said as he completed the thought.

And while some mourn the loss of the island's doo-wop motels of the 1950s and 1960s, the Pirris, who support the creation of the island's doo-wop museum, say there are ways to remember the past while moving forward.

They donated the motel's neon signs along with some paneling from the motel to the Doo Wop Preservation League.

Telling their longtime guests that the motel was closing was probably the hardest part of the process, Alice Pirri said.

"We sent letters in November telling them and so many sent cards and letters. Some asked for our address, they just wanted to send us Christmas cards," she said.

Joseph Pirri said the guests were the biggest part of the business.

"If they wanted room 110, they got room 110," he said.

And the Pirris are happy to help their longtime guests save a piece of Cavalier history as the motel goes through the last phases of demolition.

"I've got to go down there today," Joseph Pirri said during a recent interview. "A woman from Reading asked me to send her some bricks from the building."

The Pirris expect the Aurora Condominiums to be ready for occupancy in spring 2007.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:

TGilfillian@pressofac.com