The Ocean View in Oak Bluffs, where generations of Islanders met for family dinners, date nights and drinks before it burned to the ground in 2022, will not be rising from its ashes as a restaurant.
The Ocean View in Oak Bluffs, where generations of Islanders met for family dinners, date nights and drinks before it burned to the ground in 2022, will not be rising from its ashes as a restaurant, according to a new proposal from property owners Charles (Chuck) Hajjar and Charles Hajjar.
At a Martha’s Vineyard Commission land use planning committee meeting Monday night, the Hajjars’ attorney Cass Luskin unveiled plans for the Ocean View Hotel, a 26-room, three-story seasonal lodging place with employee housing, an outdoor pool and fire pit — but no public restaurant or bar.
“There’s no more restaurant use proposed in this plan,” Mr. Luskin said.
The new development replaces an earlier application for a three-story, four-level building with a ground-floor restaurant, a basement bakery and workforce housing upstairs, which was filed for MVC review in January of 2024.
Mr. Luskin said the costs of rebuilding on the burnt-out site require an enterprise that brings in more revenue than the existing contract with restaurateur Michael Santoro, who owned the Ocean View restaurant.
A look at past iterations of the Ocean View.
A look at past iterations of the Ocean View.
“It may have been an appropriate amount of money for the original building … but it wouldn’t have covered even the construction costs or the costs of getting the money from banks in order to construct with a new building,” Mr. Luskin said.
The burned building’s insurance settlement also fell short, he said.
“There wasn’t as much money coming from insurance as would have been expected, partially just because of the age and the status of that building in that lot,” Mr. Luskin said, noting the old Ocean View’s advanced age and design limitations.
The new proposal would make rebuilding economically feasible, he said, and revive a historic use of the prominent East Chop site where the three-story Ocean View House, later renamed Ocean View Hotel, hosted summer visitors from the late 1800s until it was leveled by fire in 1965.
A seasonal hotel also would contribute far less wastewater and vehicle traffic to the area than a restaurant, Mr. Luskin said.
In an interview with the Gazette Tuesday, Mr. Santoro said he was disappointed in the new plan because he had been working with the Hajjar family on a proposal to rebuild the restaurant. He had signed a contract with a restaurant designer and had been paying to renew his old licenses. Mr. Santoro said he never heard directly from the Hajjar family about the change.
“I'm disappointed,” he said. “We'd been moving forward. Mr. Hajjar after the fire had 60 days to terminate the lease and he didn't and from that point on he was very excited about building the restaurant and having the restaurant there.”
Along with its guest rooms, the new Ocean View Hotel would build three basement apartments for employees, Mr. Luskin said, adding that it may be possible to make them available to others in the off-season.
Including all four levels, the new hotel would have 18,543 square feet of space, according to the proposal.
Mr. Luskin said the business would be run by Lark Hotels, which operates the nearby Summercamp, the Coonamessett in Falmouth and more than 20 other boutique hotels in New England, North Carolina and California.
Past memories of the old hotel.
Past memories of the old hotel.
Based on Summercamp’s experience, he said, the Hajjars are planning just 16 parking places for the hotel.
“They found that they were getting one car for every 17 guests at their property, which is shockingly low,” said Mr. Luskin, who attributed the finding to the proximity of multiple passenger ferry lines on Oak Bluffs harbor.
Architect Peter Gearhart is designing the new hotel to evoke the 19th-century era when the original Ocean View was in its heyday, Mr. Luskin said.
“It looks a lot like these grand Victorian hotels that used to exist in Oak Bluffs, and in fact, existed on this very spot,” he said.
At Monday’s meeting, the land use planning committee gave Mr. Luskin and Mr. Gearhart a preview of the questions they will be expected to answer when the full commission holds its public hearing on the project later this year.
Commissioners on the committee asked for more details on parking, landscaping, lighting, drainage and the basement employee housing, among other elements of the proposal.
They also noted that the impacts on neighboring properties should be minimized at the Ocean View site, which was spot-zoned for business in 1948 and is almost entirely surrounded by residential property.
Martha’s Vineyard Commission coordinator Richard Saltzberg said the earliest date for a public hearing on the Ocean View Hotel would be in June.
In the meantime, the land use planning committee directed MVC staff planner Michael Mauro to conduct a study on potential traffic impacts from the proposed development.
Addison Antonoff contributed to this article.
Comments
The fire was a very sad thing
Jeff Baker Prospect MaineThe fire was a very sad thing for me I was 15 and remember the fire,my dad Sumner Baker did the form work
for the new place,my Uncle Ernie built that beautiful stone fireplace anytime i went there my childhood years came back ,we had a place across from the Pequt house heated with a kerosene stove and a floor heater was some cold in the winter ! Riding with Roy Maciel in the cement mixer was a thrill for me going
back to Colbys (Now Goodale's) enjoying the ride ! How would know that later i would spend most of my life working there ! So many great times on the Vineyard as a child and as a washashore also I'm a native Cape Codder ! Just a little history on how important it was to me.
P.S. I was on the OBFD Ladder 1 when they had a grease fire I went in to help remove the smoke and my dad was sitting at the bar with a few of his friends and I didn't know how bad it was at the time i said to my dad you should leave there is a fire in the kitchen,and he looked at the swinging doors and said don't look too bad let me know if it gets worse and went back to his drinking buddy's !
There is so much wrong with
Bob EdgartownThere is so much wrong with this proposal where to begin. First of all the Martha’s Vineyard Commission should be protecting the existing businesses on the island. There is no need for additional hotels on the island except for maybe 10 days out of the year. All this business would do is take away from the other existing hotels Already up and running that struggle to make ends meet. Second we need year round housing for year-round people not temporary housing for some summer people. Again this developer comes in with massive extreme density use for the property and way too large and out of scale. Why do all developers want to Maximize to the fullest extent and ask for exemptions to the fullest? The Lark Hotel also runs Mr. Hajjar‘s other four hotels he already owns in Edgartown. These businesses will be run by off Island corporations for the Benifit of off Island owners while the year round owners running bed-and-breakfast and smaller hotels are going to suffer.
Thank you. Perfectly stated.
Lucy EdgartownThank you. Perfectly stated. Do a search on these owners in the real estate transactions, they're making MV into a suburb. Zero care about our island community.
Attorney Luskin tip toed
James R Reidy 14 Chapman Ave OBAttorney Luskin tip toed around the real issue, that being a huge high rise next to tiny vineyard cottages. I find it repulsive to compare this project to the original Ocean View Hotel as that building took up half the footprint. He seems to forget that the property was zoned B1 when there was a house next door. That house was taken to make room for the restaurant that we all want back. This is an perfect example of large developer doing what ever they want with no concern for the community.
Hopefully the commissions and boards see through this and don't allow this eyesore to happen.
High rise? The building is
David Martha's VineyardHigh rise? The building is three stories tall. What are you talking about?
David,
James R Reidy Oak BluffDavid,
Look at the size of this project next to the surrounding cottages. It's 10 feet from my house! Yes it's a high rise by Vineyard standards
Thank you, Jim.
Lee Van Allen 18 Wayland AvenueThank you, Jim.
Thats too bad. Ocean view
MSThats too bad. Ocean view was such a great spot year round to gather and get some good food. I think its a mistake. Its not a bad spot...but its not particularly great either...and would be so much more appealing to guests and others if it had the restaurant/pub in the mix. I hope they will reconsider.
This is a great rendering. I
David Martha's VineyardThis is a great rendering. I'm excited to see it built. I love that there are ties to the historic use of the site, and I think local businesses in the area are sure to benefit from increased foot traffic and customers. Very cool!
Always interesting to see
Bob EdgartownAlways interesting to see what one person considers an historic use of a site. That all depends on how far back in time you want to go. You could go all the way back to when the native Americans were here and it was just vacant land that was historic. Or you can just go back say 50+ years as that seems historic to me. After all, that is two generations.
Another luxury hotel. Bless
Emily OBAnother luxury hotel. Bless their little hearts. The island is no longer a middle class destination.
This proposal is so unfair
Judith Fisher West TisburyThis proposal is so unfair and unthoughtful of the neighbors.
This is a small cottage neighborhood historically owned by generations of families. The MVC has shown with other decisions that it cares about neighbors. I trust that in their decision here the Commission members will prioritize the neighbors’ future quality of life, property values and the long history of enjoyment these families have had with friends in their beloved cottages and neighborhood.
THANK YOU!
Lee Van Allen Oak BluffsTHANK YOU!
Are the three employee units
George Strin OBAre the three employee units taken already ?
The issue is waste water in
Bob Kelly Oak BluffsThe issue is waste water in Oak Bluffs where there is no capacity for a project of this size. And it's way too big for its surroundings and takes up too much of the lot. Maybe when the tarrifs arrive and tank the summer, it will cool projects like this one.
I was really looking forward
Fred J Hancock Oak BluffsI was really looking forward to the return of the Ocean View Restaurant which was an important part of Oak Bluffs and the Island. The benefit of the restaurant and housing for it out weighed the size in my opinion. As just a hotel, I see no benefits only detriments.
BIGGER is not better! This
virginia yorke AquinnahBIGGER is not better! This sweet little Highlands neighborhood inhabited by generations of families, more than 100 years does not need to be exploited with a HOTEL! please, show some respect for this sweet community. Shearer Cottages has been handling this beautifully. Why does money drive you to want to leave the largest footprint on the planet?! even at the expense of this humble, historic, loving, unpretentious, kind neighborhood. When love of money blinds you....very sad.
A hotel that huge will
Chip CoblynA hotel that huge will certainly wall off a big chunk of the Highlands neighborhood from the rest of OB. I hope it will be shrunk down to a more neighborly scale. Hey!—how about a restaurant?
Wow nice to hear from
Sam of Edgartown EdgartownWow nice to hear from neighbors
Scale down the hotel. Leave more room for neighbors home. Like it was when one lot was granted B1 commercial
Ocean View was day in day out
Kevin S EdgartownOcean View was day in day out the best restaurant on the island. Not having it leaves a huge hole. Also, I’m not in the hospitality business, but I’m not getting how a 16 room hotel occupied 8 weeks of the year has better economics than a year round restaurant. Restaurant certainly has way more positive and way less negative impact to both the year round and seasonal community. Long live the OV!!!
One can only hope Mr. Hajjar
Ken Rusczyk OBOne can only hope Mr. Hajjar reconsiders his plan for his hotel only plan. So many people were dreaming for a new "OV". The old plan was wonderful.Why not???
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