By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Four homes built next to the former site of a gas manufacturing plant that operated in Sea Isle City more than 100 years ago are up for sale after soil and groundwater contamination were cleaned up on the land.
“Remediation is complete. They’re all safe,” Nick Preuhs, a Sea Isle real estate agent for Long & Foster who is handling the sale, said of the homes.
The homes are owned by the Jersey Central Power & Light utility company, which bought the former gas manufacturing plant in 1926 and had the responsibility of remediating the remnants of coal tar and oil that were found in the soil and groundwater, according to a document describing the sale.
The gas manufacturing plant operated from 1889 to the 1920s. Since 1987, JCP&L has conducted environmental investigations of the site while working on cleanup plans in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, according to the sale document.
The homes are on 39th Street and 40th Street. They were once privately owned, but JCP&L purchased them after the discovery of soil contamination stemming from the old gas plant, Preuhs said.
“They tested the soil in the neighborhood. These homes had a low concentration of pollution, but enough for JCP&L to make offers to the private owners,” he said.
The cleanup of soil and groundwater contamination has, in turn, opened the door for JCP&L to sell the homes.
Separate from selling the homes, JCP&L will auction off three pieces of vacant property in the area of 39th Street and Central Avenue and 40th Street between Central and Cini avenues. The residential-zoned property is where the old gas manufacturing plant was located. The vacant land consists of nine lots that are being sold as a package.
An online auction is scheduled March 8-10 for the land, which has also been remediated of soil and groundwater contamination stemming from the old gas plant’s operations. Following is a link to an earlier story about the land sale, Former Gas Plant Property to be Sold for Housing | Sea Isle News.
Meanwhile, the four homes up for sale are adjacent to the vacant property. They include both units of a duplex at 220 40th Street listed at $1.8 million, both units of a duplex at 214 39th Street listed at $1.7 million, a never-occupied condo unit at 207 40th Street listed at $1.2 million, and two condo units in the same building at 218 39th Street that are listed at $600,000 each.
“They’re priced at under-market value,” Preuhs said. “If there’s a buyer out there who’s patient and willing to go through the process with JCP&L and the NJDEP, they’re going to get a good deal.”
The homes are hitting the market at a time when Sea Isle’s real estate has been hot. Reflecting a boom fueled by low mortgage rates, a surging stock market and the shore being seen as a safe haven from the COVID-19 pandemic, Sea Isle has now become a million-dollar housing market.
The median sale price for homes in Sea Isle has jumped well above $1 million and shows no signs of significantly slowing down because demand is high and inventory is low, Preuhs and other real estate agents pointed out in earlier interviews.
Preuhs has begun accepting offers for the four JCP&L-owned homes. However, JCP&L will not formally respond to any offers until Feb. 25 as part of a 75-day waiting period required by the NJDEP to show that the utility company is making a good-faith effort to sell the homes.
“Their objective is to take as many offers as possible,” Preuhs said.
For more information on the sale, visit http://www.firstenergycorp.com/RealEstateNJ.
