Red tags placed on the buildings declare that the property is “unsafe for human occupancy.”
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
A troubled Ocean City condominium complex closed since April because of structural problems is now up for sale for $7 million and is being pitched as a development site.
The Seaspray Condominiums are currently surrounded by a chain-link fence cutting off access to the 32-unit property at the corner of 34th Street and Bay Avenue in the south end of town.
Red tags have been slapped on the condos declaring that the buildings are currently “unsafe for human occupancy.”
Seaspray was shut down on April 17 by the city’s construction official after some concrete fell from the landing of an exterior stairway on the north side of the complex.
In a new development in the Seaspray saga, the property has hit the market for $7 million and is being touted as a “prime real estate, investment opportunity.” Seaspray LRE Commercial Listing Offering Memo - Seaspray Flyer.pdf (loopnet.com)
Red tags placed on the buildings declare that the property is “unsafe for human occupancy.”
The condos were first shut down in April 2023. At that time, the state Department of Community Affairs ordered the city to close down the complex after it was declared structurally unsafe. Then the condos reopened in May 2023 after an updated engineering report concluded they were safe.
Concerns about the Seaspray’s structural integrity surfaced again this year. Seaspray was shut down on April 17 by the city’s construction official after some concrete fell from the landing of an exterior stairway on the north side of the condos.
The buildings have remained shuttered since then, including the installation of a chain-link fence to block access to the property.
Neil Byrne, the city’s construction official, wrote in a letter dated May 8 that the condo complex remains “unsafe due to continued deterioration of the structural elements.”
Byrne added in the letter that repairs must be made to the damaged exterior landing steps as well as other problems outlined in an engineering analysis completed in August 2023 by Tadco Engineering of Lyndhurst, N.J., before the complex can be reopened.
Red tape marks the landing of an exterior stairway that partly collapsed.
Plans to repair and reopen the property have been complicated and delayed by a series of engineering reports as well as litigation between different factions of the condo owners and their managing boards.
Another engineering report, completed in April 2023 by Endicott Engineering, found that structural defects and deteriorating conditions were so significant at Seaspray that they presented a safety hazard to both the condo residents and the general public.
Endicott Engineering also concluded that the complex should be demolished. Overall, at least six engineering studies have been done since 2000, each determining that the buildings were structurally unsound, according to a lawsuit filed in 2022 against the Seaspray’s managing board and condo association.
Among other issues, the litigation focused on whether repairs should be made to the buildings or whether it would be better to demolish the complex altogether and sell the property to a developer.
