Photo courtesy of the town of Hampton
Developer Sal Lupoli has added a Hampton Beach motel to his portfolio after an $8.4 million transaction in March.
A deed recorded at the Rockingham County registry shows a holding company controlled by the Lawrence, Massachusetts-based Lupoli and registered to the address of the Hampton Beach Casino bought 2 L St. and 75-79 Ocean Blvd. on March 28.
The Portsmouth Herald quoted a Lupoli spokesperson saying the developer’s company plans to continue operating it as a hotel this summer after renovations following a two-year closure.
However, it’s not clear what Lupoli has in store for the 0.44-acre assemblage and the 67-year-old motel. But motel-to-vacation-condominium developments have been a feature of the seaside resort in recent years.
The developer’s larger project on Hampton Beach a few blocks away from his new motel appears to be moving full steam ahead.
The Lupoli Companies got town approval for necessary zoning variances back in February for a 6-story mixed-use redevelopment of the tired Hampton Beach Casino retail-and-events-venue complex.
The development plan will encompass a 204-room hotel, 99 condos, an events venue twice the size of the current casino’s ballroom and an expanded charitable gambling casino.
That last piece was approved by Hampton’s Zoning Board earlier this month to expand the existing 8,000-square-foot charitable gaming room by over 30,000 square feet.
Casinos are experiencing a kind of mini-boom in New Hampshire right now, with the owners of two major malls in the state – the Mall at Rockingham Park and the Pheasant Lane Mall – swapping defunct anchor stores for big, new facilities. The latter’s addition, to be called “The Nash” will top out at 130,000 square feet and the former at 120,000 square feet.
Lupoli is one of the business partners in the Mall at Rockingham Park development, to be called “Live!” along with Joe Faro, the Tuscan Brands CEO who’s developing the Tuscan Village mixed-use development next to the mall on the former Rockingham Park racetrack site.
