The Coral Sands Motel overlooks the corner of Ninth Street and Atlantic Avenue a block from the Boardwalk.
An old motel may be dressed up before it’s torn down.
Last April, Ocean City’s planning board approved plans by the owner of the Coral Sands Motel to demolish the building and replace it with a mixed-use project combining commercial space on the ground floor and six residential units on the top two stories.
But since then, the Coral Sands has remained in business, welcoming motel guests as usual during the peak summer tourism season.
Now, there are plans to give the Coral Sands a facelift to make it more inviting to motel guests and restaurant customers – and keep it in business for the foreseeable future.
Among the improvements, the motel’s owner has applied to the planning board to add 20 outdoor seats along Atlantic Avenue for the restaurant that operates at the Coral Sands.
Owner Haresh Patel also wants to replace the sundeck and second floor deck above the restaurant, according to planning board documents.
There are also plans to install arches under the second floor walkways for structural reasons.
The planning board is scheduled to consider approving the project at its Jan. 14 meeting.
The motel is slated for improvements to freshen up the exterior.Patel’s attorney, Jon Batastini, noted that Patel ultimately plans to move ahead with demolishing the motel and developing the mixed-use project. But for now, Patel wants to improve the building’s exterior.
“He’s just fixing it up until he gets ready to do the other project. He’s freshening it up to make it a little nicer,” Batastini said Tuesday.
Planning board documents show that the board’s approval of Patel’s mixed-use project last April “is not being abandoned.”
The Coral Sands, believed to date to the 1960s, overlooks the corner of Ninth Street and Atlantic Avenue in a prime location only a block from the Boardwalk.
During the planning board meeting last April, there was a discussion about the motel’s tired-looking appearance. Some of the board members expressed relief then that the old building would be replaced with modern construction.
Architect Andrew Bechtold, who represents the Coral Sands, called the motel a “way past its prime” building.
“We’re removing a building that needs to be removed,” Bechtold told the planning board in April.
Since then, no announcements have been made about when the motel will be demolished and construction would start on the new mixed-use project.
The exterior improvements proposed by Patel now suggest that the motel will be around for at least the 2026 summer tourism season, complete with a restaurant.
Last summer, Buddy Love’s BBQ operated at the Coral Sands. Before Buddy Love’s occupied the space, Augie’s Omelette & Waffle House was the motel restaurant.
