Government

Seaside Heights Floats Condemnation for Motel That Was Scene of Killing

by
Daniel Nee
July 7, 2023

Offshore Motel, Seaside Heights. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The Seaside Heights borough council this week took two more steps in its continuing redevelopment efforts across town by passing two resolutions concerning two separate properties. (The other is covered in a separate story, which can be accessed here.)

The governing body voted unanimously this week to formally designate the Offshore Motel, on the Boulevard, as an area in need of redevelopment, which provides the borough numerous options in redeveloping the property, including the ability to condemn it. The resolution passed by the council specifically authorizes the designation “for condemnation purposes,” though the option remains on the table to negotiate a resolution with the owner. The redevelopment area also includes a small, adjacent property.

The Offshore Motel, located at 108 Boulevard near Dupont Avenue, was most recently in the news last December, when a borough resident received a 35-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to killing a woman in one of the rooms. The motel was open for business Thursday when a reporter took a photograph of the exterior.

Offshore Motel, Seaside Heights, Fall 2022. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The property has drawn the interest of developer K. Hovnanian Enterprises, which has floated the idea of constructing a 24-unit townhome community there. While the borough’s Boulevard redevelopment plan generally calls for mixed-use properties, officials have looked favorably on the informally-proposed project since it would benefit from the company using techniques to help it fit in along the Boulevard, such as a facade that faces the business district.

Dating back to 2021, when the borough began a major crackdown on code violations at motels, the Offshore has received summonses and remained what many consider to be a trouble spot in town. Designating the property as an area in need of redevelopment will prompt a study of the parcel by the planning board, which will be tasked with providing a recommendation to the council, which would ultimately adopt a redevelopment plan that an owner would be required to follow. The redevelopment designation would also allow for the taking of the property by eminent domain under certain circumstances.