By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
OCEANPORT – As new businesses prepare to open at RiverWalk Center at the former Fort Monmouth, the development’s owners have decided on a new approach for the site’s hotel and restaurants.
Nicol Rackets will open first in April, offering pickleball, padel courts and physical therapy. Scheduled to open next is Skinny Flowers Brewery and Tap Room, first reported by the Two River Times in August.
Oceanport’s Michael Abboud, who partnered with friend and neighbor Christopher Ilvento to form Fort Monmouth Business Center, LLC, purchased and is developing the 12-acre RiverWalk site along Oceanport Avenue. Ilvento is the principal and founder of Ilvento Builders and Developers, LLC., a commercial and residential real estate development, construction and investment firm.
Rather than leasing the hotel and restaurant as originally planned, the partners will retain control under the banner Allison Hospitality Group, overseeing three components: the historic Allison Hall, a circa 1928 U.S. Army hospital being converted into a boutique hotel; The Allison wedding venue, which will occupy a two-story existing structure on Parkers Creek undergoing an extensive renovation; and an adjacent one-story building that will become Festival Hall, a 10,000 square-foot casual eatery featuring live music and more. The three-story, 36,665-square-foot Allison Hall was named for the fort’s sixth commanding officer, Col. James B. Allison, who initiated its construction.
“We want to control the vision and delivery (of the three venues),” said Abboud. Their friend and local musician Joe Bessone, a developer whose work includes the Marriott in West Orange, Resorts in Atlantic City, and the Gregory in New York City, will serve as group CEO.
“Joe’s specialty is creating ‘integrated lifestyle,’ high-quality programming, entertainment experiences, and curated amenities into brick-and-mortar environments,” Abboud said. The casual restaurant is expected to open by year’s end, while the hotel’s anticipated opening is early 2026.
In addition to 50 guestrooms, The Allison Hotel will feature an outdoor pool and bar, plus The Allison Club, an “intimate speakeasy” on the ground floor for hotel guests, paid members, and the public on certain days. Floor plans are completed, Abboud said, the interior is in design, and the group is interviewing “seasoned hospitality operator” candidates.
The two-story, indoor/outdoor waterfront wedding venue features banquet space upstairs and ground-level dining intended for special occasion parties. Abboud said the adjustments were made based on market demand. Park Loft, a busy wedding venue nearby in the former fort’s renovated 1940s Army Dance Hall, has been open since 2022.
The Ilvento family has been in the restaurant/hospitality business for three generations, owning Ilvento’s pizzeria in Jersey City, and Ilvento’s West End Manor in Long Branch – a favorite of A-listers Joe DiMaggio and Carol Burnett – which opened in 1949 and shuttered some 40 years later.
Also on board is Chris’s brother Rob Ilvento, who owns the Silverball Museum pinball and party venue on the Asbury Park boardwalk, along with a second, larger location in Delray Beach, Florida, with a full bar, food service and live entertainment. Rob, who also founded Cluck U Chicken, will be adding his latest creation to Allison operations – Rob’s Razn Rum.
The complex, a mix of new and renovated red brick buildings, is fully leased by businesses Playa Bowls, CKO Kickboxing, Round Dough, L’Mer Nails, Stonefit, Broadway Chicken, Olive and Oak, Black Belt America, and Rogue Salon. The property’s drive-through was leased by the First Bank of New Jersey. The final three tenants are finalizing their leases and will be announced soon, Abboud said, adding Allison Hospitality Group is “still welcoming accredited investors from Monmouth County be part of this unique project.”
The partners purchased the site in 2022 for $2.3 million from the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA). Their initial estimated expenditure to develop it was $14 million, raised to $25 million last year. Abboud said that figure will also be exceeded. One of the fort’s first investors, Abboud purchased the historic Russel Hall on the Parade Grounds in 2017, renovating it into the headquarters of his TetherView private cloud services firm.
The developers must also construct their portion of a 12-foot-wide pedestrian promenade along Parkers Creek, which will connect to adjacent projects and the surrounding new residential neighborhoods that are part of the fort’s 1,126-acre redevelopment.
If all goes as planned, the center’s biggest neighbor will be Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth, to be constructed on almost 300 acres. Plans for the 12-soundstage production facility are currently wending their way through a 36-month local, county and state approval process. If contracts are signed within a year, the complex could open in 2028. Netflix has approval to begin demolishing 88 obsolete fort buildings at its own expense this year.
“RiverWalk’s success would not be possible without the support of Oceanport’s municipal team,” Abboud said. “This is a complex project, and we are grateful for the partnership with the borough’s construction office.”
He said the group remains “focused on delivering outstanding experiences for the community.”
The article originally appeared in the March 20 – 26, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
