Featuring a glassy facade, the former Republic Bank building dominates the corner of Ninth Street and West Avenue.
Wanna own a bank?
Well, you’ll have to name your price for this one.
The now-empty former Republic Bank building in Ocean City has hit the market three months after it was closed down following a corporate takeover.
It was expected that the building overlooking the intersection of Ninth Street and West Avenue would be put up for sale after its Sept. 16 closure. But what is surprising is the way the transaction is being handled.
No price has been announced yet. Instead, the company overseeing the sale is reportedly asking prospective buyers to submit “letters of intent” expressing their interest.
Tom Skiffington, a broker with RE/MAX real estate, did not return calls seeking comment about the sale. A RE/MAX sign listing Skiffington as the sales agent has been placed on the building.
City Council President Pete Madden, who is also the broker-owner of Goldcoast Sotheby’s International Realty in Ocean City, said he understands that letters of intent for the building are being accepted for 21 days.
Madden, who is not involved with the sale, described the letters of intent as an unusual way to sell real estate.
He believes that the bank will either be sold based on the offers outlined in the letters of intent or that a price will be established.
For months, Madden has said that Ocean City should consider buying the bank property. If the city bought it, it could explore its options for repurposing the site, including the possibility of demolishing the building and redeveloping the land for public parking serving the downtown business district, he said.
“When land is at a premium, we should keep an eye out,” Madden said of the city possibly acquiring the property for public use.
A Republic Bank sign overlooks the Ninth Street entryway.The bank building occupies a prime spot along the Ninth Street entryway to the downtown shops and restaurants. City Hall is only a block away at the corner of Ninth Street and Asbury Avenue.
The construction of the Republic Bank building in 2021 was supposed to represent the next phase of the Ninth Street corridor’s transformation into a more inviting gateway into Ocean City.
The bank’s prominent location ensures that the building is one of the first things visitors see while entering the city on the Ninth Street artery, the main gateway into town. However, the building’s glass-cloaked, contemporary design has drawn widespread criticism as an eyesore.
Fulton Bank acquired the Ocean City bank and other assets of Republic Bank after federal bank regulators seized the financially troubled Republic last April.
Fulton then announced plans to close Republic branches in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that it concluded were made redundant by the corporate takeover. Republic branches in Ocean City and Northfield were among the South Jersey banks on the closing list.
The former Republic Bank property in Ocean City is actually owned by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the agency that maintains stability in the nation’s financial system, a Fulton bank official said in September.
The FDIC retains ownership of the location since Fulton chose not to operate the bank in Ocean City, the Fulton spokesman said.
An armed guard takes valuables to an armored truck following the bank's closing on Sept. 16.
