TOMS RIVER – The Township Council authorized the purchase of the Red Carpet Inn for $3.3 million.
This will be bringing an end to the process of purchasing the hotel, but will continue the overall goal: to redevelop the land into an attractive, walkable downtown that residents can be proud of.
The inn, located at 2 West Water Street, was a burden for the township. Officials once said that it had been visited by police 750 times over the course of two years.
Residents and downtown business owners have complained about the hotel being a magnet for drug use and prostitution.
Alazar Zorojew, executive director of the Downtown Toms River Business Improvement District, thanked the council for making this purchase.
“The Toms River Business Improvement District has supported this unequivocally,” he said.
John Dorrity, a township resident who is director of the county’s Veterans Service Bureau, suggested that the land could be set aside for veterans housing, as the area has a distinct need.
