Demolition at Lamberti’s Restaurant and Sunset Marina
MARGATE – Demolition is nearly complete on Lamberti’s Restaurant and Sunset Marina on Amherst Avenue. Contractors were using heavy equipment to cart away what remains of the Italian restaurant that boasts some of the best views of summertime sunsets.
After the building is reconstructed, those views might be available year-round.
Lamberti’s has operated at the site for the last 20 years. Before that it was Steve & Cookies By The Bay, which relocated across Amherst Avenue.
The City of Margate, which leased the building to Lamberti’s 9707 Amherst Marina, LLC for $500 a year, turned over ownership of the site earlier this year in exchange for Lamberti replacing the city-owned bulkhead beneath the restaurant and creating 24 public parking spaces at his parking lot a half-block away on Monroe Avenue.
The Board of Commissioners approved Lamberti’s original request to demolish the bayfront restaurant and rebuild it maintaining the building’s current footprint in March 2015. The project was approved by the Planning Board on Nov. 17, 2016 and granted an extension of those approvals on Oct. 25, 2018.
When completed, Lamberti’s will be required to pay annual taxes on the updated assessed value of the property, Mayor Michael Becker said.
The new two-story structure will double the size of the restaurant and have a deck for al fresco dining. The owners say they will be open year-round. They are hoping to be open by July, pending any unforeseen setbacks during construction.
