By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
The developer of the ICONA brand of luxury resorts at the Jersey Shore revealed plans Wednesday for a $135 million hotel on the Ocean City Boardwalk in place of the former Wonderland Pier amusement park.
Eustace Mita plans to call the upscale hotel “ICONA in Wonderland” and would incorporate the defunct amusement park’s landmark Ferris wheel and historic carousel in the design of the project.
In an interview, Mita said the hotel would include 252 rooms. He explained that the project would help to replace some of the approximately 2,000 hotel rooms that Ocean City has lost in the last 30 years.
He noted that the city’s tourism market has shifted more toward vacationers buying second homes instead of families staying at hotels or motels.
“We are America’s Greatest Family Resort,” Mita said of Ocean City’s marketing slogan. “But if this continues, we will become America’s greatest bedroom resort.”
Even as the number of hotel rooms continues to shrink, lodging remains a critical component of Ocean City’s tourism market, he pointed out. He said the city now has about 1,000 total hotel and motel rooms. He believes it needs more rooms.
“It’s a fact that the No. 1 revenue generator is tourism. It’s also a fact that the No. 1 supporter of tourism is hotel rooms,” Mita said.
Mita unveiled his plans for the hotel during a 90-minute private meeting Wednesday with members of the Boardwalk Merchants Association. Mayor Jay Gillian and City Council members Terry Crowley Jr. Keith Hartzell, Jody Levchuk and Tony Polcini also attended the meeting at the Ocean City Free Public Library.
Wes Kazmarck, president of the Boardwalk Merchants Association, said the group did not take a formal position on Mita’s hotel during the meeting, but is expected to vote in December whether to endorse or reject the project.
“It was an excellent presentation,” Kazmarck said of Mita.
The hotel would rise 7½ stories high on the former Wonderland Pier property at Sixth Street and the Boardwalk. It would include 10 to 13 retail outlets in front of the hotel overlooking the Boardwalk, 375 parking spaces under the building and two swimming pools, one indoor and the other outdoor.
Mita stressed that he has no plans to seek a liquor license for the hotel. Fears had been swirling in the community that Mita would likely want to have a liquor license to make the project more attractive to hotel guests.
“We’re not seeking it. We love it as it is,” Mita said of Ocean City’s reputation as a “dry” town that prohibits the sale of alcohol.
Instead, Mita said he plans to allow guests to bring their own alcohol to the hotel for weddings and other special events. He said Ocean City’s historic Flanders Hotel has a similar policy.
There are no guarantees that Mita’s project will ever make it off the drawing board. He originally unveiled plans in 2023 to build a $150 million hotel next to Wonderland, but that project did not receive support from Mayor Gillian and other key city officials.
However, Mita’s original proposal was made well before Wonderland closed this fall. After years of financial difficulties, the park shut down on Oct. 13, bringing to an end nearly 60 years of ownership under Gillian and his family.
Despite Wonderland’s rich history and traditions, the amusement park was ordered to be put up for a sheriff’s auction in January 2021 because Gillian defaulted on $8 million in mortgage debt.
Mita stepped in to save Wonderland from the sheriff’s sale by investing in the park. Gillian said Mita gave him three years in 2021 to try to turn Wonderland around. Ultimately, he couldn’t overcome Wonderland’s financial struggles, Gillian said.
Now, Mita owns the former Wonderland property on the Boardwalk as well as the amusement rides. Preservationists have called on Mita to resurrect the amusement park or, at the very least, to save the 140-foot-tall Ferris wheel that dominates the Ocean City skyline as well as the historic carousel dating to the 1920s.
In an apparent compromise, Mita would instead blend the Ferris wheel and carousel in with the construction of the hotel, which would take about 24 months to complete. He said the hotel would feature an old-fashioned seashore design.
Mita specializes in developing high-end hotel projects. He is well-known at the Jersey Shore for his ICONA luxury resorts in the Cape May County beach communities of Avalon, Cape May and Diamond Beach.
Under Ocean City’s existing zoning laws, hotel construction is not allowed on the part of the Boardwalk where Mita hopes to build his project.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Mita revealed his desire for City Council to formally designate the proposed site as an area “in need of redevelopment” to allow the hotel’s construction. The proposal would result in tax advantages for the city, Mita said.
Gillian declined to comment Wednesday on Mita’s new hotel plan, saying he prefers at this time to let the project circulate among the public before he gives his opinion.
“We have to get it out and talk to the people,” Gillian said after the Boardwalk Merchants Association meeting.
Council members Crowley, Hartzell, Levchuk and Polcini also stressed after the meeting that they want to give their constituents time to review the project. They indicated that the hotel will be the subject of extensive discussions by Council, particularly Mita’s proposal to declare the property an area in need of redevelopment.
“I’m not there yet,” Crowley said of whether he supports the project. “I want to, obviously, talk to constituents and gather feedback before I make a decision.”
Echoing Crowley’s comments, Polcini also said it will be crucial for Council to consider public sentiment before any decisions are made about the project by the governing body.
Levchuk, whose family owns the Jilly’s brand of stores on the Boardwalk, said he has a lot of questions about how exactly a redevelopment zone designation would work, including the legal implications.
At the same time, Levchuk noted that members of the Boardwalk Merchants Association reacted favorably to Mita’s presentation during the meeting.
“This room seemed very positive to it,” Levchuk said.
Hartzell, though, raised objections to the hotel project. He said he was a “solid no” at this point, but added that he wants to talk to his constituents to get their opinions before he makes any decisions at the Council level.
“As a taxpayer, I’m a no. As a politician, I’ve got to listen,” he said in an interview.
Hartzell said he believes that a luxury hotel would not be the right kind of project to replace Wonderland Pier or to fit in with Ocean City’s family-friendly tourism market.
He raised the possibility of having another type of family-friendly attraction built there, perhaps a smaller amusement park or even a bowling alley.
Hartzell also said he doesn’t think that the 375-space parking lot proposed for the hotel would be large enough for such a project.
