The Coral Sands Motel overlooks the corner of Ninth Street and Atlantic Avenue a block from the Boardwalk.
An Ocean City motel located only a block from the beach and Boardwalk will be demolished and replaced by a mixed-use project combining commercial and residential space, according to redevelopment plans for the property.
Representatives of the Coral Sands Motel, at the corner of Ninth Street and Atlantic Avenue, are scheduled to appear before the city’s planning board on April 2 to seek site plan approval for the project.
“The existing Coral Sands Motel is to be demolished,” according to documents filed with the planning board.
If the project is approved by the board, the motel will be replaced by a three-story building containing commercial space on the ground level and six residential units on the top two floors.
The documents do not say when the motel would be torn down and construction would start on the new project. Jon Batastini, an attorney for Coral Sands, was not available for comment.
The owner of Coral Sands is listed as Haresh Patel of Linwood. Patel could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
On its website, thecoralsandsmotel.co, the motel says it will reopen on April 10 for the 2025 summer season.
Coral Sands, a budget motel, is touted for its family-friendly atmosphere and prime location only a block from the beach and Boardwalk.
“If you and your family are planning to come to the Beach and Boardwalk at Ocean City, New Jersey, stay at a clean, comfortable, family oriented staffed accommodation with security, free parking and conveniently located near all the attractions Ocean City has to offer, this is your place,” the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce’s vacation website says of the Coral Sands.
The Coral Sands Motel sign in the front window.The proposed redevelopment of the Coral Sands reflects Ocean City’s transformation into more of a vacation market of condos, second homes and upscale lodging.
Hotel developer Eustace Mita, owner of the ICONA brand of luxury resorts at the Jersey Shore, has said that Ocean City has lost nearly 2,000 hotel and motel rooms in the past 30 years because of the evolving market.
Mita has proposed building a 252-room luxury resort hotel on the Ocean City Boardwalk, at Sixth Street, to replace the defunct Wonderland Pier amusement park. The estimated $135 million to $155 million project has generated community debate over whether it would be a huge boost for the Boardwalk or harm the city’s family-friendly reputation.
In separate votes, the Boardwalk Merchants Association and Downtown Merchants Association endorsed Mita’s project this month – with each association believing the hotel would be good for Ocean City’s business community.
Mita has said he plans to go before City Council in April or May to have the former Wonderland Pier site declared “in need of redevelopment” – a move that would bypass local zoning laws and allow the hotel to be built in an area of the Boardwalk that currently allows only retail shops, restaurants and amusements.
Next, he would submit his formal construction plans to the city’s planning board or zoning board about 60 days after he seeks Council’s support.
Coral Sands Motel says on its website it will reopen on April 10 for the 2025 summer season.
