By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
The modest two-story house standing at the corner of 85th Street and Landis Avenue has been there since 1900, surviving countless coastal storms over the years and the transformation of Sea Isle City’s real estate market with bigger, glitzier vacation homes.
It was built just 18 years after Sea Isle’s formal founding as a beach resort by visionary real estate developer Charles K. Landis.
However, it appears that its days are numbered. The head of a development company that owns the house said he would like to save it, but it would simply be too complicated and costly.
“It’s a shame it’s going to be torn down,” said Michael O’Neill, owner of Sea Isle-based MJ Builders & Development Group along with his son, Brian.
O’Neill has bought out his business partner’s share of the house and is planning to build a commercial development in its place featuring office space for his company on the first floor and retail tenants on the second and third stories.
Exactly when the old home will be demolished is unknown at this time. O’Neill said he is still waiting for plans from his architect. The next stop would be at Sea Isle’s Planning Board for approval to redevelop the property at 8505 Landis Ave. into a commercial complex.
The project would not need any zoning variances because it is located within an area zoned for commercial development, O’Neill explained.
Citing the time it will take to complete the architectural plans, secure the planning board approvals and sign the retail tenants that will occupy the building – along with the actual construction – O’Neill estimates that his project probably won’t be ready until the summer of 2023.
“It might be there for another year,” he said of the possibility of the old house staying put before it is torn down.
Located in Sea Isle’s Townsends Inlet section, the house served as a private residence for more than 90 years after it was first built around 1900. It was converted into an office for the former T.I. Realty company in 1992, but has remained vacant in recent years other than O’Neill’s company using it as a small office and storage space.
At some point, the city’s zoning regulations were changed for commercial development in the area where the old home is located.
O’Neill has bought out the share in the house formerly owned by his business partner, Jamie Sofroney, a Sea Isle real estate broker. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Sofroney initially considered three options for the property: Renovate the old house, tear it down to build a new single-family home or redevelop the site for a mixed-use project combining commercial space and condominiums.
But Sofroney and O’Neill concluded that renovations to save the house would have been too costly. O’Neill explained that extensive renovations would have triggered a requirement for him to elevate the home to comply with current flood standards.
“It didn’t seem feasible,” O’Neill said of the cost and challenges of lifting the home.
After discussing his plans with surrounding property owners, Sofroney decided last year to build a new single-family home in its place. Sofroney said in a 2020 interview that the neighbors preferred a new home because they feared commercial development would have exacerbated parking problems in the area.
However, Sofroney withdrew his plans for the single-family home while appearing before the zoning board last year. He did so after two board members began pointedly questioning the wisdom of building a new home in an area zoned for commercial development.
With O’Neill taking full ownership of the home now, the plan is to focus on commercial development. O’Neill said he is not sure which type of retail tenants he will have in the building, but noted that he has already been approached by a restaurant operator.
“We’re going to be feeling out the market before we decide what we want to do,” he said in an interview Monday.
The project will be built to have seven parking spaces underneath, something that should appeal to surrounding homeowners who are worried that a commercial development might add to parking problems in the neighborhood, O’Neill said.
O’Neill has been in business in Sea Isle for about 40 years, including the last five as the owner of MJ Builders & Development Group, a company that specializes in residential construction.
