Bayfront property up for sale in Sea Isle City

A high-profile piece of waterfront property is up for sale in Sea Isle City and offers the buyer the option of developing condominiums, commercial space or both.

The land at 4210 Park Road sits in the heart of the historic Fish Alley neighborhood, an enclave of family-owned restaurants and fishing boats rooted in Sea Isle’s early days at a commercial seaport.

Previously, the property served as the site of the Casa Taco and Casino Pizza restaurants. Both restaurants were demolished after they were damaged in a raging fire on Aug. 14, 2024, that started in Casa Taco.

The now-vacant land overlooks the corner of Park Road and 42nd Place, next to the towering, arched Fish Alley sign that welcomes visitors to the neighborhood.

A “For Sale” sign attached to a fence surrounding the property advertises the site for potential mixed-use development that could include residential, commercial, retail and office space overlooking the bayfront.

City tax records show that the property is owned by AKGG LLC, a Sea Isle-based real estate, rentals and leasing company. AKGG is an acronym for the initials of the owners, sisters Anna Marie Kelly and Gloria Giampietro.

Denise McPhillips, Anna Marie Kelly’s daughter, declined to disclose the sale price Monday. She declined to comment further other than to say the owners are working with an out-of-state investor interested in the property.

    Now surrounded by a fence, the property overlooks the corner of Park Road and 42nd Place.
  

An Instagram video that advertises the sale calls the site a “one of a kind bay front property.”

Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio said he has no preference for what might be built on the property as long as the project complied with the city’s zoning law.

“Whatever is permitted under the zoning law is what I would like to see built. I wish them well. Welcome to Sea Isle,” Desiderio said of whomever eventually buys and develops the site.

In 2018, the same property was put up for sale for $6 million. It was being marketed at that time as a development site for a three-story complex featuring 20 units of multi-family housing on the top two floors. In addition, there would have been 25 parking spots, eight boat slips and 8,745 square feet of commercial space on the first floor.

However, the property didn’t sell at that time, and the redevelopment project wasn’t built.

In a 2024 interview shortly after the fire, McPhillips said some thought had been given to transforming the property into a miniature version of the Washington Street Mall, the nostalgic pedestrian thoroughfare in Cape May lined with retail shops and restaurants. But she emphasized that no formal redevelopment plans had been crafted at that time.

McPhillips also said in 2024 that the now-demolished building on the property had dated to the early 1900s and had been owned by her family for three generations. Her grandparents, Camillo and Antoinette Bufalo, were the original owners when the building functioned as a fish market decades ago, she said.

    The Oar House Pub is another prime property up for sale in Sea Isle.
  

The property sale at 4210 Park Road represents the second prominent site in the Fish Alley neighborhood that has hit the market in recent months.

Late last year, the Oar House Pub on 42nd Place off Park Road was put up for sale for just under $7 million.

The buyer of the Oar House Pub would have the option of continuing to operate the restaurant or redeveloping the waterfront property into a mixed-use project blending commercial space on the ground level with condos on top, according to the city’s zoning law.

The Oar House Pub is one of the landmarks of the Fish Alley neighborhood. One of its most notable features is the large, decorative red lobster on the front entrance, a throwback to when the restaurant formerly operated as the Lobster Loft.

The existing two-story building that houses the Oar House dates to 1910 and originally served as a warehouse for the commercial fishing industry before it was converted into a restaurant, according to local historic records.

Sea Isle businessman James Bennett has owned the restaurant since 2006, dating back to its days as the Lobster Loft. He transformed the eatery into a pub-style restaurant in 2018 and rebranded it as the Oar House Pub, but is now looking to sell it.

    The Oar House Pub and the property up for sale on Park Road are both close to the landmark Fish Alley sign welcoming visitors to the historic neighborhood.