OCEAN CITY — The Seaspray condominiums at 3313 Bay Ave. have stood vacant since May 2023, now surrounded by a chain-link fence and marked unsafe for habitation.
City Council has finally taken a step to remedy the situation, adopting a resolution Aug. 7 finding that the property may be an area in need of rehabilitation and recommending the Planning Board investigate the matter.
Residents of the 32-unit complex were forced out in May 2023 when the building was red-tagged as an unsafe structure. City solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said at the time that the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) instructed the city’s construction official to do so.
In February 2025, McCrosson said there is an internal legal fight taking place among the condo unit owners. She said there was pending litigation between owners who want the place sold and demolished and others who want it rehabilitated, with their respective engineers claiming it can’t be repaired and that it can be fixed.
City officials have deemed it is not a safe place for occupation and owners cannot live there until repairs are made, but did allow owners to go in to get their belongings.
Councilman Jody Levchuk said in 2023 that he was concerned with how long the process would take, given that neighbors don’t want to be next to a red-tagged building, not to mention one that residents and visitors driving into the resort on Roosevelt Boulevard have to pass.
“Will there be timelines? We don’t want to keep the building red-tagged until infinity,” Levchuk said. “I don’t think anyone wants to see a red-tagged building in their neighborhood.”
McCrosson said until the condo association gets its house in order and decides whether it is feasible and makes financial sense if it can be repaired, it is going to look like it does for the short term.
“I think it will get there,” she said, adding “it’s a private process among the property owners.”
The building was constructed circa 1955 as a hotel and has been operated as a condominium since about 1981, according to city documents.
Following the initial declaration of unsafe conditions, the city received an engineering report deeming it safe for occupancy, but the building was again declared to be unsafe April 17, 2024, after concrete from a stair landing fell off the building and it was discovered that repair work had not been undertaken.
“It’s an existing non-conforming use in the 34th Street Gateway Zone in which residential uses are conditionally permitted,” McCrosson said Thursday.
She said litigation among condominium owners has resulted in the court appointment of a receiver who has been given authority to sell the property and a developer has it under contract. The developer, McCrosson said, asked that it be designated in need of rehabilitation, which would allow negotiations on new zoning standards for this site.
McCrosson said the developer has presented a concept that features 43 condominium units in three stories above one level of parking with no commercial component.
The resolution finding the site may be in need of rehabilitation notes repairs to make the building safe for occupation have not been undertaken and appear to be beyond the financial capability of the condominium association.
“The cost to repair the building at the property could exceed 50 percent of the value of the building so that the building would be required to be elevated to comply with current flood elevation standards, a process which would likely be cost-prohibitive,” it states.
It further states the building “in its current distressed condition, fails to accentuate this entry into the city” and “has a detrimental impact upon the surrounding business and residences, and upon the city as a whole.”
The Planning Board has been charged with reviewing the property, its condition and its effect on neighboring properties and the city in general and make a recommendation to City Council.
Criteria for designating the property in need of rehabilitation include that the housing units, along with their water and sewer infrastructure, are more than 50 years old and in need of repair and there is a pattern of vacancy, abandonment or underutilization and that the property owner owes back taxes.
The next step is for the Planning Board to review the proposed declaration resolution and submit its recommendations to City Council. City Council then would consider adopting the declaration resolution and adopt a redevelopment plan.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
