Troubled ‘House-Motel’ Property to be Purchased, Demolished in Seaside Heights

The property at 229 Franklin Avenue, Seaside Heights, N.J., July 2022. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

A property in which a full-size motel was squeezed in behind a house decades ago will be acquired by the borough, demolished and redeveloped.

Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz announced Wednesday at a meeting of the borough council that the town had been granted $2.9 million from the state for a number of special projects, one of which is the acquisition of the property for $1.1 million. The purchase is inclusive of both the motel residential structure, though both must be demolished and replaced after an eventual sale.

Located at 229 Franklin Avenue, officials say the motel has generated a high number of calls to police and is a frequent trouble spot that has plagued neighbors for years. One neighbor, on hand at the meeting, cheered the announcement. According to tax records, the property was developed in 1955 on a 50-foot by 100-foot lot. Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz said officials at the time allowed both a multifamily home as well as a motel to be built on the same small parcel of land, making it “significantly out of character with the rest of the street.”

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The property has previously been the subject of a complaint by the borough, seeking to remove its mercantile license to operate due to the disturbances that have occurred there.

The property at 229 Franklin Avenue, Seaside Heights, N.J., July 2022. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The property at 229 Franklin Avenue, Seaside Heights, N.J., July 2022. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Tax records indicate the property is owned by Alexander Rozental, of Staten Island, N.Y. It was last sold in 2006 for $400,000.

Vaz said the borough will acquire the property for $1.1 million. It is then expected that it will be formally declared an area in need of redevelopment in order to ensure a responsible owner purchases the property and develops it in accordance with borough zoning codes. The property is located within the low-density residential zone, which calls for single-family homes.