By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
For the past few years a prime piece of vacant property in the heart of downtown has essentially served as an exclusive parking lot for a faded old red truck with the words “Sea Isle City” written on the side.
The weather-beaten truck, an odd landmark, does not belong to the city. The owner is said to be Jeff Di Cesare, a local painting contractor known for organizing Sea Isle’s family-friendly summer dance parties formerly held in Excursion Park before the pandemic cut the entertainment short last year.
Far more important than the old truck is the land it is parked on. Overlooking the Landis Avenue corridor at the corner of 42nd Street, the property has been vacant ever since two stores that once occupied the site were destroyed by fire during a winter storm in 2016.
Speculation has been building since then over whether Di Cesare would take advantage of the parcel’s high-profile downtown location to develop a commercial attraction.
But now, it appears he is out of the picture. Real estate records show that Di Cesare recently sold the property for $350,000 to an outfit called 4118 Landis LLC.
The name 4118 Landis LLC is taken from the address of the property, 4118 Landis Avenue.
Di Cesare has not been available for comment despite repeatedly attempts by SeaIsleNews.com to reach him.
In 2019, Di Cesare was featured in a story about his restored 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air and a whimsical miniature dinosaur collection that goes with the classic car during Sea Isle’s vintage auto show on the Promenade.
No further information was immediately available on 4118 Landis LLC other than confirmation Friday by city Tax Collector Paula Doll that it is now the owner of the property. The land is assessed by the city at $261,400, Doll said.
Local real estate agents and city officials said they know nothing about 4118 Landis LLC or whether it plans to develop the land. However, they acknowledged it seems unlikely that commercially zoned property in a prime downtown spot would stay vacant for long.
The empty land actually consists of two side-by-side lots, including the one formerly owned by Di Cesare.
“Evidently, he only sold his half,” real estate broker Dustin Laricks, whose office on Landis Avenue is next door to the vacant property, said of Di Cesare.
Real estate records show that the adjacent empty lot at 4116 Landis Avenue is owned by Marita F. Berkelbach of Philadelphia. Berkelbach also owns Marita’s Homemade Ice Cream Shop at 60th and Landis Avenue in Sea Isle.
For now, at least, it seems the land will continue to serve as a parking lot for Di Cesare’s old red truck. Some people say it is an old fire truck, while others believe it is a former ambulance.
Whatever it is, there apparently is a practical purpose for the old truck: Di Cesare uses it to store paint for his contracting company, according to Laricks.
