Four-story hotel proposed on Rehoboth Boardwalk

In January, a new hotel was proposed on the west end of Rehoboth Avenue. Now, another new hotel is proposed on the east end of the Avenue, right on the Boardwalk.

Plans for the proposed Belhaven Hotel are set for a sketch plan review before Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission at 1 p.m., Friday, April 12.

Plans call for a 77,000-square-foot, 120-room, four-story hotel at 2 Rehoboth Ave. As proposed, the Belhaven Hotel would stretch from Rehoboth Avenue to Wilmington Avenue.

According to the planning commission agenda, the property is owned by the Papajohn family, who will be represented at the meeting by Alexander Papajohn and a representative of Fillat + Architecture of Baltimore, Md.

The supporting documents call for a gross floor area of roughly 77,000 square feet on a lot area of approximately 38,500 square feet. The documents show 39 rooms on the second floor, and 41 rooms on both the third and fourth floors. The plan calls for 121 parking spaces, most of them underground.

The plan calls for 218 feet fronting Rehoboth Avenue, 100 feet fronting the Boardwalk and 165 feet fronting Wilmington Avenue.

The ground floor plan calls for approximately 13,800 square feet of retail space, and 5,000 square feet of restaurant-related space. Plans for the second floor include an outdoor pool.

The Belhaven Hotel would stand largely on the same site as the old Belhaven Hotel, once a Rehoboth Avenue landmark. The proposed Belhaven is the third hotel proposed in Rehoboth in the last calendar year.

Last summer, in July, Gene Lankford, owner of the Atlantic Sands Hotel on Baltimore Avenue, proposed a 40-room hotel and restaurant on property he owns directly west of the Atlantic Sands – 17, 19, and 21 Baltimore Ave.

Three months ago, in January, Limitless Development Construction Consulting introduced a four-story, 90-room hotel with dining and retail space at 330 Rehoboth Ave.

The sketch plan review is the first item on the planning commission agenda, at 1 p.m. Supporting documents can be viewed online at cityofrehoboth.civicweb.net.

Editor’s note: Documents submitted to the city and posted online for the proposed hotel spell its name Bellhaven. However, developer Alex Papajohn has confirmed to the Cape Gazette the name will be Belhaven Hotel.