By Donald Wittkowski
A new Italian restaurant that was expected to liven up Sea Isle City’s downtown culinary scene will not make its debut this summer after all, a representative of the developer said.
Under construction at the corner of 44th Street and Landis Avenue, the eatery will be a Jersey Shore offshoot of the popular Anthony’s Ristorante in Drexel Hill, Pa.
Owner Anthony Foster originally expected to open Sea Isle’s version of Anthony’s Ristorante this summer, but has decided to hold off until next year in order to concentrate on his flagship Drexel Hill eatery.
“He’s too busy with the restaurant at home,” said Sea Isle real agent Barbara Boeshe, who represents Foster. “It takes a lot of planning. He’d rather go slowly with it and get it right.”
The restaurant is the anchor of a mixed-use project combining commercial space on the street level and six upscale condominiums on the second and third floors.
Boeshe, who handled the condo sales for Foster, said all of them have been purchased. She declined to disclose the sale prices.
As construction moves into the final stages, settlement on the first condo is scheduled for the first week of August. The owners are expected to begin moving in later in the month, Boeshe said.
Boeshe explained that Foster took great care in making sure that the building was constructed in a way that would isolate the condos from the sounds and smells from the restaurant. A 4-inch-thick slab of concrete separates the restaurant from the condos built on top of it.
“You should have seen how many trucks were lined up to pour the concrete,” Boeshe said.
The new Anthony’s restaurant, meanwhile, is targeted for a grand opening next spring or summer, she noted.
Foster’s eatery will add to Sea Isle’s array of drinking and dining options – from casual, old-school bars and taverns to gourmet waterfront restaurants.
The project is located in a prominent downtown spot directly across the street from St. Joseph Catholic Church, Sea Isle’s largest religious sanctuary. In summer, St. Joseph’s services are heavily attended by vacationers, giving the restaurant a large potential pool of customers.
Foster, who has a vacation home in Sea Isle, is also expected to capitalize on Anthony Ristorante’s Delaware County, Pa., customer base to generate traffic for his shore eatery. Sea Isle is often called “Delco East” in the summer because of the throngs of vacationers from Delaware County.
In addition to Foster’s development, another mixed-use project under construction at 42nd Street and Landis Avenue is expected to dramatically transform the look and vibe of the downtown business district.
A&L LLC, the owner of the project at 42nd and Landis, is developing 12 condos on the top two stories of the building, but has not yet revealed what type of commercial space is planned for the first floor. The project is expected to be completed this summer.
Both new projects on Landis Avenue are compatible with a 2008 change in Sea Isle’s zoning law that allows businesses to rebuild commercial properties while adding more residential space.
The idea behind the zoning change was to encourage businesses to stay put in town, rather than seeing them disappear to make room for even more housing. The mixed-use projects include commercial establishments such as bars, restaurants and retail shops operating on the street level, while the top floors feature condos or apartments.
