By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Mary Jane Gleeson recalled the lines of customers standing outside Mazzella’s Bakery to buy the freshly made pastries, cakes and especially the bread.
“My father made the most amazing bread. The recipe died with him. It has never been duplicated,” Gleeson said.
The bakery was owned by her late parents, Silverio and Josephine Mazzella, Italian immigrants who settled in Sea Isle City at the corner of 50th Street and Landis Avenue in the 1950s.
As Sea Isle’s red-hot commercial real estate market continues to heat up, Gleeson has decided to put the property up for sale for $3.675 million.
Mazzella’s Bakery closed in 1999, but the three-story building that doubled as the family’s business and residence currently serves as leased office space for Long & Foster Real Estate and also includes restaurant space.
The building at 4914 Landis Avenue is zoned for mixed-use development, which would give a buyer “endless possibilities” to transform the site, Gleeson said.
“Whoever buys it can do whatever they want to do with it,” said Gleeson, a sales agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach Realtors in Sea Isle.
The property is in the midst of a two-block commercial district along the Landis Avenue corridor between 49th and 51st streets. It is an enclave of restaurants, a bakery and other businesses.
“It has every convenience. It is within steps of one another,” Gleeson said of the property’s location next to other businesses.
Mazzella’s Bakery was one of the anchors of the neighborhood when it operated between 1953 and 1999. Gleeson’s father built the bakery.
“My father was always baking in his brother’s residence and then he moved over here,” she said. “I remember how people would stand outside in line to buy bread pastries and cakes. My mother was the contessa who was at the front of the store.”
Now 71, Gleeson also has fond memories of her childhood years growing up in the building. The upstairs served as the Mazzella family’s residence.
“Those summer days were amazing,” she said. “It was a simple time. We knew all of the summer residents.”
The second floor of the building has a three bedroom, one bathroom apartment. The attic area could be converted into another full-sized apartment, according to the sale listing.
The property includes two full-sized lots with parking.
This is the latest high-profile commercial property to hit the market in recent weeks amid Sea Isle’s real estate boom. Local landmarks that have gone up for sale include Shoobies Restaurant and Angelo’s Ristorante & Pizzeria in downtown Sea Isle.
In addition, the Springfield Inn has been demolished to make room for a new outdoor bar and restaurant planned for this summer by the property’s new owner.
For more information about the former Mazzella’s Bakery property at 4914 Landis Avenue visit Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach – Sea Isle City Sales Office
