Long-Approved Condo Hotel Project Moving Forward In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City officials said the long-discussed Soleil Resort project is moving ahead after a recent project meeting and a pre-construction meeting last month.

At his recent town hall meeting, Mayor Jay Gillian asked City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson to explain the history of the project because of what he described as false information surrounding it.

McCrosson said the proposal went through many years of the redevelopment process and returned to the Planning Board multiple times. She said the matter also came before City Council over many years and through different councils before reaching its current form. What was ultimately approved, she said, was a six-story, 111-unit condo hotel with 391 parking spaces.

McCrosson said City Council and the Planning Board put protections in place to make sure the project operates as a hotel.

“So when you hear condo hotel, everybody kind of tenses up, but all that is is a hotel in which the rooms are separately owned,” McCrosson said. “It's still designed and will be required to operate as a hotel to provide transient stays.”

She said those requirements include a front desk, laundry service, maid service and limits on how long owners may stay in their units. According to McCrosson, an owner may stay only 30 days in a unit in any season, with the year divided into four seasons.

McCrosson said the project was also the subject of litigation and that the final version resulted from compromise with the Planning Board and City Council at the time. She said the developers have pulled a building permit and needed to do so because they were running out of time.

The city expects construction to begin with a parking garage.

“So, there's a specific staging plan that they have to follow. So, that the first thing they're going to build is the parking garage,” McCrosson said. “I was told just yesterday they expect the parking garage to be available for parking next summer.”

McCrosson said the city will manage the project and work with the Flanders condo association and management to preserve parking access. She said the Flanders is entitled to full availability of 152 parking spaces there, and added that part of the lot may remain available for public parking, as it has been for years.

Gillian said the city has also been working on a parking plan involving a practice field on Sixth Street by Carey Field if shuttle service or other arrangements are needed during construction, including during winter events at the Flanders. He said the city would work with the property and “provide parking the best we can” if the garage is delayed.

Once the garage and some units above it are completed, McCrosson said work would continue on units along Ocean Avenue and 11th Street. She said the city will continue to oversee the project and provide updates if plans change.