Ocean City introduces redevelopment ordinance for blighted condo site

Ocean City is moving ahead to finally end what one City Council member bluntly described as a “20-year nightmare.”

Voting 6-0, Council introduced an ordinance Thursday night that would designate the site of the dilapidated and shuttered Seaspray Condominium complex, overlooking the corner of Bay Avenue and 34th Street, as an area in need of redevelopment.

The ordinance will next go to the city’s planning board for review and approval before it heads back to Council for a public hearing and final vote at the Dec. 18 meeting.

As it stands now, the hulking Seaspray complex mars the busy 34th Street entryway into town. It has been surrounded by a chain-link fence and abandoned ever since it was deemed structurally unsafe in 2024. Red tags were slapped on the buildings declaring Seaspray as “unsafe for human occupancy.”

Councilman Keith Hartzell said problems with the Seaspray condos date back at least to 2006. He and the other Council members indicated they are anxious to see the blighted property demolished and redeveloped.

“It’s time to put a 20-year nightmare to bed and move forward,” Hartzell said.

Hartzell called plans for the property’s redevelopment “the best possible solution – bar none.”

Seaspray was shut down by the city’s construction official in 2024 after some concrete fell from the landing of an exterior stairway at the 32-unit condo complex. It was put up for sale in 2024 for $7 million.

The Seaspray buildings date to the 1950s and were originally part of the Seaspray Motel before they were converted into condos in 1981.

The work needed to return the property to a safe condition is reportedly too expensive for the condominium association. Litigation among the Seaspray condo unit owners has resulted in the court appointing a receiver to sell the property.

Council members Sean Barnes and Tony Polcini noted that as long as the Seaspray remains closed, the condo owners are in “a bind” because they are still paying mortgages on units that are locked up.

    A chain-link fence blocks access to the Seaspray condos while they remain closed.
  

The HOW Group, a property management and real estate company based in Conshohocken, Pa., is under contract to buy the Seaspray site for an undisclosed price, city officials said.

HOW Group had asked the city to designate the site in need of rehabilitation to open the door for a redevelopment plan that would include construction of 43 condo units within the complex.

Hartzell said the price for a two-bedroom condo would start at about $750,000, which he called “reasonable” in a resort town that often sees homes easily selling for upwards of $1 million.

Renderings of the proposed project depict an upscale four-story condo building featuring a porte cochere and attractive architectural touches to dress up the exterior.

The project would include a series of amenities, including a pool ringed by private cabanas, an environmentally friendly “green roof” covered by grass and vegetation, a fitness center, charging stations for electric vehicles and a dog wash area to let owners bathe their pets in style.

“I think it’s going to bring new energy and vitality to the 34th Street corridor. It’s going to create a really beautiful gateway into Ocean City,” said Fourth Ward Councilman Dave Winslow, who represents the area where the new condos would be built.

Winslow made his comments in an interview with OCNJDaily.com earlier this week. He is traveling on vacation and was not at Thursday’s Council meeting to vote on the redevelopment ordinance for the Seaspray site.

The Council members complimented the HOW Group for being “good listeners” for the project. Council President Terry Crowley Jr. thanked the HOW Group for being so receptive to the city.

The company has been collaborating with the city for a project that would embrace the town’s seashore vibe, the Council members said.

“It makes sense. Let’s go,” Council Vice President Pete Madden said while voicing his support for the redevelopment ordinance and the HOW Group’s plans.

    Red tags placed on the Seaspray buildings declare that the property is “unsafe for human occupancy.”
  

Although the redevelopment ordinance would pave the way for the property’s transformation, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the HOW Group would build the proposed condo complex.

The city would also need to negotiate a formal redevelopment agreement with the company for the project. The project would also need the necessary planning or zoning approvals to authorize its construction.

City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson characterized the redevelopment ordinance as “the next step” for designating the type of project that should be built in place of the Seaspray condos.