By MADDY VITALE
Going once, going twice, but not sold as of yet, with a third postponement by the bankruptcy court of a hearing to determine who may purchase the landmark Crown Bank building in Ocean City.
The hearing was originally set for Dec. 13, then postponed until Dec. 20 and then the court adjourned the hearing for a third time on Tuesday. The hearing will now be held sometime next month, a lawyer said.
“The court adjourned the matter once again to be heard on a to-be-determined date in January once all of the parties involved get back to me with their availability,” Ray Patella, an attorney for the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee, Brian Thomas, said in an email Tuesday.
The Crown Bank building, at the corner of Eighth Street and Asbury Avenue, is listed for $7 million in bankruptcy court in Camden before Judge Andrew B. Altenburg Jr.
Two offers were on the table for the property as of earlier this month. It is unclear if any new offers have come in.
The first offer came from Eustace Mita, of Icona Resorts, to buy the building at 801 Asbury Ave. for $6.5 million as part of his plan to transform the property into a luxury boutique hotel.
Mita owns beach resorts in Avalon, Cape May and Diamond Beach under the Icona Resorts brand.
A second offer came in on Dec. 12 from local real estate investor Raj Khatiwala, of Ocean City, and his brother, Yogi. They offered $6.675 million under their company, Ocean City Crown Holdings LLC.
The Khatiwalas are founders of the real estate investment company Eclat Investments, according to the company’s website,
eclatinvestments.com.
They own several properties in town. Among their Ocean City businesses are The Scarborough Inn, Stainton’s A Gallery of Shops in the downtown and Stainton’s Gallery by the Sea on the Boardwalk.
The Crown Bank building dates to 1925. It is a 33,440-square-foot concrete building consisting of five floors and a mezzanine area.
The property sale would also include five parking lots.
The site has multiple potential uses.
“Subject to municipal approvals, possible future uses for the building include, but are not limited to: downtown luxury hotel use; residential condoing; nursing home/senior housing use; dormitory for J-1 Visa students,” according to a description on real estate websites.
(Aerial photo of the Crown Bank building and the parking lots included in the property courtesy of Loopnet)
