Plans are shaping up for the next iteration of Hoboken’s beloved Malibu Diner. The diner, located at 257 14th Street in Hoboken, was an unofficial welcome mat on the north side of town for decades of visitors since its opening in 1941. It closed on December 31st, 2021, with promises to come back in the same spot in a new format. Plans are now coming together for what that will look like. Read on for more about what we know about the new Malibu Diner.
About the Malibu Diner
The Malibu Diner was opened in 1941 and underwent a major renovation in the 1980s to transform into a full-service restaurant. Decades worth of Hoboken residents and visitors knew its iconic neon sign. Free parking and delicious food available 24 hours a day made this spot a draw for all types of guests, and when plans emerged in 2019 for the property to be redeveloped, naturally there were a lot of questions.
At the time, the plans envisioned were for a multi-use building that included a total of five floors with 23 residential units making up the top stories of the building, with the ground floor designed to accommodate a commercial space, as well as 20 parking spaces.
Read More: Where to Get the Best Comfort Food in Hoboken
Presumably, the ground floor commercial space would be Malibu 2.0. The plans would require a total demolition of the existing building, the diner, to move forward with construction.
The owners, the Babalis family, told HG in 2021 that they had agreed to the plans, including the demolition because it would be the most efficient way to get a space that would be up to modern building codes. The current owners are the adult children of Malibu’s longtime owner, Konstantinos, who passed away in 2020.
The Plans
Signs are up on the building site marketing the apartments. According to Patch, the building is being called The Constantine and plans to open in 2024. All of this tracks with HG’s previous reporting, found here.
The apartments are described as one, two, and three-bedroom luxury rentals with a rooftop deck and parking available. The picture on the development website matches up with the renderings presented as part of the development application, so we hope that this means that everything is on track for an on-schedule re-opening of the Malibu Diner.
See More: These Spots are Why Jersey is the Diner Capital of the World
While Hoboken has been without a diner since the early 2022 demolition of Malibu, there are several other classic New Jersey diners within a short drive of Hoboken. Check out our list here while we wait for the new version of the Malibu Diner to open.
