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Post by hulk007 on Jul 16, 2006 22:23:44 GMT -5
Does anyone know if the owners of the Oceanview are from northern Nj? They, along with the Pyramid run ads often in the bergen county paper, the record.
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Post by MMM on Jul 17, 2006 20:55:27 GMT -5
I don't know. I do know that the original owner of the Pyramid was from Lodi. He used to get a lot of business from in town. I get the impression that the new owners take better care of it though - it always looks nice the last few years...
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Post by hulk007 on Jul 17, 2006 23:33:23 GMT -5
Yes, the owner of the Pyramid was a guy named Cangelosi. My parents knew him. Maybe his kids took over the motel. According to my dad the (original?) owner was old when they stayed there back in the late 60's.
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Post by Rob Ascough on Jul 26, 2006 13:17:59 GMT -5
aceholdings: Very interesting. Sounds like you want to see the old motels preserved as condotels instead of being demolished for large towers. I can't help but like that approach. Any other projects you are currently involved in, or know of?
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Post by wfd203 on Jul 26, 2006 20:38:04 GMT -5
The Oceanview is owned by a firm called CATDADDIES, LLC. There is a hotel / motel listing for all of NJ and it is available on NJ state website via Treasury dept. It's been updated as of 7/25/06. It's in Excel Format. We stay there for the firefighter's convention. We take 60 rooms, we don't know what to do if they close. Firefighter's will pay the high rates, but our association has to compensate us some way. Look at all the expos through out the US that take place. Firefighter's go. But to pay a high rate for a hotel that hasn't been updated or ADA updated is a little ridiculous for the money. If I was a hotel owner, 108 rooms by 4 years to update takes 27 rooms. New floors with tile, paint, bathroom make overs etc. This is not going to cost you that much. Even new A/C. $2000 a room for $216,000. Not bad investment. And the asking price is $21 million up from 5.5 in 2001. The most anyone should pay is about $12 million. Who is the big real estate company behind it?
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Post by hulk007 on Aug 10, 2006 21:54:15 GMT -5
Any new news on the Ocean View? The post has dropped down
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Post by fuzzyscorpio on Aug 17, 2006 1:41:53 GMT -5
I talked briefly with the woman who was working the front desk Sunday night. On duty along with her was a fellow I remember talking to last year. The woman said she knew there were "a lot of rumors" going around but that according to a recent update given to the hotel's managers, the owners are not selling. "Doo-wop saved it," she said with an enigmatic smile, adding, "You're not allowed to tear it down because of this" and gesturing in the general direction of the sloping roof. She told me that a complete renovation of the hotel will probably begin after the '07 season.
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JIMD
Full Member
Posts: 221
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Post by JIMD on Aug 17, 2006 6:52:21 GMT -5
I stayed next door at the Singapore a few weeks back and was talking to a guy who was staying at The Oceanview. He said he already booked his same room for next year so I guess they will be around at least one more year.
What was funny is he was actually complaining about the rooms AC not being cold enough, then in the next breath he told me he booked the same room for next year, strange, lol
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Post by thelastresort on Aug 17, 2006 11:05:37 GMT -5
she said with an enigmatic smile, adding, "You're not allowed to tear it down because of this" and gesturing in the general direction of the sloping roof. She told me that a complete renovation of the hotel will probably begin after the '07 season. hmm, interesting dialog, thanks. But I wonder if she was just soapboxing a bit? Honestly, not to sound cynical, but I think rising interest rates and overflowing condo inventory saved it. As much as I'd like to have faith in the human spirit, I'm just too cynical. There are no white knights anymore (except in the movies). The owners probably thought they could make more keeping it than dumping it. I think the sad reality is, that if the accountant says keep it, it stays, if not, down it goes.
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JIMD
Full Member
Posts: 221
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Post by JIMD on Aug 17, 2006 11:57:02 GMT -5
They paid way too much for that place to run it as a hotel for a profit.
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Post by thelastresort on Aug 17, 2006 12:35:16 GMT -5
They paid way too much for that place to run it as a hotel for a profit. then it's gone
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Post by Al Alven on Aug 17, 2006 14:35:05 GMT -5
This is all very interesting. Thanks for this info, fuzzy.
Like lastresort, I’m very skeptical about this woman’s claims. I’d love to know exactly what she means by “Doo Wop saved it,” because if the owners want to tear it down, they can tear it down. The DWPL tries to encourage owners to maintain and update their properties, but they don’t (and can’t) force anyone to do something they don’t want to do.
The whole situation with the Oceanview is starting to remind me of the Captain’s Table fiasco. Remember when the word was out that the restaurant was going to be demolished in 2002? Then 2003, then 2004... Sadly, it finally did meet it’s fate, but it hung around for so long, some (myself included) got the sense that it might manage to survive.
I sincerely hope that the Oceanview does not meet a similar fate. It’s been on the “eventual” demolition rumor list for years now, but it’s lifeline continues to get extended. We know it will be open next year, and I guess it is encouraging to hear that the woman at the desk specifically mentioned “renovations” perhaps occurring after 2007.
It’s a wait and see thing for now. I just hope the final verdict is what we all want to hear.
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Post by thelastresort on Aug 17, 2006 15:23:22 GMT -5
believe me (my apologies to Doowopper, as in this thread way above), I was never a huge "fan" of this place, always thought it was ok, but not worth bending over backwards to save. I mainly object to this type of nonsense that owners play, it's going, it's not going, it's going, it's not going. As one of my college professors used to write on papers: "MAFD"
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Post by fuzzyscorpio on Aug 17, 2006 17:26:13 GMT -5
I’d love to know exactly what she means by “Doo Wop saved it,” So would I. Apologies for the lousy reporting job. I was down for only two nights, and that night I was in the midst of my “Ocean Avenue neon tour,” struggling with a camera that was on its last legs (which is going to be exchanged next week for my very first “refurb” rig <gulp>). I got a good last run out of it by constantly switching between two battery packs… will post some shots when I have time to process them. I do wish I had gotten her to elaborate on that statement, I was just too frazzled at the time. It struck me as a provocative comment, in retrospect, because my impression has been that there is really nothing on the books and nobody in either the public or private sector down there with any “teeth” when it comes to preventing the destruction of doo-wop treasure. So where is it written that you can't destroy a building with a jaunty roof? (Aside: Has the Ocean Ave motel district ever even been officially, legally “walled off” in any way?) Similarly, I chatted for a few minutes on my way to the Boyer Museum with someone who rooms at a little apartment house for the season and has taken an interest in the Wildwoods’ war of the motel and condo worlds. She was adamant that there are grants to be had for the preservation of 50s/60s doo-wop, if you know how to initiate the process. Said there was an 800 number for this that was published in a little corner of the CMC Herald a few weeks ago. I did think that sounded positive. She said that for a while the owners were playing everything close to the vest and wouldn’t tell the managers anything, so everyone was uneasy and rumors were flying, but that they had recently disclosed their plans. I don’t remember her exact words re: the renovations, but she indicated that they would be major, with extensive changes to both exterior and interior. The hotel had a big sign out front saying something like “We are pleased to announce that we are taking reservations for the 2007 season,” as JIMD noted. Yeah, yeah, I know… they had the same sign out there last year about the ’06 season… Right. I probably should have prefaced my original post with “make of this what you will…”
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Post by fuzzyscorpio on Aug 17, 2006 17:36:14 GMT -5
I think rising interest rates and overflowing condo inventory saved it. A very strong possibility, of course. I get the feeling the hotel/motel owners who have held out for top dollar until now have probably pushed their luck way too far. But I don't want to be too picky at this point. What matters most is that it's survived another year, and that there's a chance either these owners or a new owner will bring it back to a flourishing state, if it's fixed up. And maybe, just maybe, that little piece of the oceanfront will remain isolated from the plague of faceless, unfriendly condos that are so antithetical to the 20th-century spirit of the Wildwoods.
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