Upscale Boutique Hotel Still Planned for Empty Site in Sea Isle City

Christopher Glancey has heard the wild rumors about what supposedly will be built on the site of his former Ludlam Hotel.

At one point, there was speculation about a Wawa convenience store rising on the property at the corner of John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Landis Avenue, in the heart of downtown Sea Isle City.

More recently, there was gossip that Glancey would instead develop an amusement park complete with rides.

“The rumor mill is hilarious,” Glancey said with a laugh during an interview Thursday.

Despite the scuttlebutt going around town, Glancey emphasized that he still plans to build an upscale boutique hotel on the property – although the project has not moved along as quickly as originally planned.

“This is a very complicated project,” he said.

Glancey said he is awaiting final approval of the project by the Cape May County planning board before he begins construction. He has already lined up local and state regulatory approvals from Sea Isle and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

He hopes to secure county approval sometime this summer, followed by the start of construction this fall or in spring 2026. The hotel would take about 24 months to build, putting the grand opening roughly in the summer of 2028, he noted.

    An architectural rendering depicts what the new Ludlam boutique hotel project will look like when completed. (Courtesy of Christopher Glancey)
  

As proposed, the project would feature 26 hotel suites, 20 residential units, a restaurant, bar and small bakery. There would also be a swimming pool on the second floor for hotel guests.

Glancey has not disclosed the estimated development cost.

He envisions the hotel becoming a major centerpiece of Sea Isle’s tourist-dependent economy by drawing new visitors to town.

“This town needs visitors to survive,” he said. “If you don’t have visitors, businesses can’t survive.”

For now, the 1.2-acre property remains vacant. The former Ludlam Hotel complex was demolished last October. Surrounded by a fence, the site has been cleaned up to make it look better for the summer, Glancey said.

Although there were rumors that Glancey had been looking to sell the property, he said his intention is to build the hotel.

“No, it’s not for sale,” he said, while adding that there has been interest in the property from potential buyers.

The boutique hotel would represent the next generation of development for the high-profile location at the corner of JFK Boulevard and Landis Avenue, the main entryway to the downtown district.

    An excavator's gaping claw tears down the Ludlam Hotel complex in October 2024.
  

Prior to the Ludlam Hotel, the legendary LaCosta Lounge occupied the property. When it opened in the early 1970s, LaCosta Lounge was built on the same spot where some of Sea Isle’s most historic businesses once stood, including the former Bellevue Hotel and Cronecker’s Hotel & Restaurant dating to the late 1800s.

LaCosta was a throwback bar and nightclub that hosted multiple generations of partygoers. The bar was sold to Glancey and his business partner, Bob Morris, for $7.3 million in 2018, but kept on operating as the LaCosta Lounge under a lease until it closed for good in 2021.

After LaCosta closed, the site was reinvented as the Ludlam bar, restaurant and hotel complex. Glancey and Morris had originally planned to redevelop the site in 2018 for a boutique hotel, but instead renovated the property for its transformation into The Ludlam. The Shorebreak Cafe was also part of the complex.

Now, Glancey and Morris have revived their original plan to build a high-end boutique hotel, also to be called The Ludlam, on the property.

Glancey said that the rumors about a Wawa or an amusement ride park being built on the property instead of a hotel are just that, baseless rumors.

“I have no intention of operating rides,” he said, laughing.

    The Ludlam Hotel sign serves as a reminder of what once occupied the property.