January 23, 2018. This article was posted 4 months ago and is relevant today because of the latest news. Read it for background.
The Aurora in Ocean Grove. 6 Atlantic Avenue. Internet photo.
Aerial view of the Aurora. Source: Zillow
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger (updated post from 2013)
The Aurora on Atlantic Avenue in Ocean Grove, NJ is listed as a single family home. It sits on 4 lots with ocean views from 3 levels (and the top.) The house is still for sale—since 2013.
Built in 1884 , the Aurora has a garage and room to park several cars (or maybe two Bentleys).
This grand old hotel is considered a major Victorian historic treasure even when compared to the rest of the country (per historian Ted Bell.) It became even more renowned when the current owner converted it to a single family house. It cannot be changed back into a hotel. If you buy it, you will need a few more bathrooms. We are told that it needs a lot of work inside.
The Aurora Hotel when it was a hotel. They say that Broadway celebrities liked to stay there. (Source–Zillow)
The Aurora is perfect for the man who has everything, including more than one wife; or a playboy with lots of playmates. And, in case you are wondering if there is enough room, the Aurora also has a finished basement.
So, even though the price has been reduced substantially and seems to be a relative bargain, the issue is what can a buyer do with it? The current owner purchased the property because he wanted room for his large family, but 30 bedrooms? That would be one bathroom for 6 bedrooms, which has the potential for some family warfare.
So what would a new owner do with this huge property?
Other uses, besides a single family house, are technically prohibited because of zoning, including a hotel, a drug rehabilitation facility, a casino, a brothel, a frat house, a dormitory for Yeshiva students, a rooming house for Camp Meeting religious tourists, a multi-family condominium, a school, or a rooming house. You cannot rent rooms in Ocean Grove—so Airbnb is out. And there is no parking for more than 4 cars.
Of course, creative zoning without on-site parking is part of the Ocean Grove/Neptuner culture. How about Mary’s Place where two single family houses were supposed to go? It is now a spa/respite shelter for female cancer victims. It is officially a single family house with 10 bedrooms.
The Mary’s Place precedent might work for the Aurora. Turn that into a shelter for some victim group. The Neptune Zoning Department has proven itself to be very creative under Bernie Haney. They were the ones who found a solution for Mary’s Place, not the Planning Board. There’s a lot of money going into drug rehabilitation these days. Del Ray Beach in Florida is such a place.
And how about the Grand Atlantic Hotel which was turned into a home for nuns? What kind of zoning legerdemain made that happen? And what kind of zoning allowed Grove Hall to become a conference center/65 room hotel for visitors to use while attending religious based conferences?
Or consider the North End Redevelopment Plan which was supposed to consist of 25 single family Victorian style houses, but now the plans, after major zoning changes, consist of 165 residential units including condominiums, an underground garage, and a hotel.
And then there was the Surf Avenue House conversion into condominiums without parking. That hotel was officially listed as a single family house before the owner got the designation changed to “hotel” so it could go condo. And how about the the Manchester Hotel which was to go condo until it burned down.
That’s the problem with precedents. The double standards and favoritism in town create precedents. What’s to stop the Aurora buyers from tapping into the same sort of special treatment?
JERRY ORBACH:
According to the OGCMA website, Grove Hall has 31 rooms, not 60+. Only 5 have private baths. And your group has to have insurance!
Paul….it is true that a lot of money is being poured into rehabs in Delray Beach because it is a lucrative business. It is also true that with it has been a big increase in drug related crime, particularly burglaries of homes and cars. E
Dreams : A monastery . Artists studios . A think tank . I can dream no ?
I predict that someone will buy it to convert to condo’s, but it will take years and years to get the approvals, meanwhile it will slowly sink into ruin, either it will be deemed to not be salvageable or a mysterious fire will burn it and most of the block down! Then the township will allow them to replace it with a larger modern building with no parking!
As for going from a single family to condos-it does happen.The 27 Surf Ave. was on the tax records as a single family at the time it was converted to condos. It apparently morphed from single family to hotel at the time of its variance requests.
I believe the ordinance about driveway parking is that no cars can park in the flare. This means it affects the first two blocks for the Avenues only, not streets. If your driveway extended past the flare between houses, you would be permitted to park in the part of the driveway past the flare.
There is a small one car garage on this property. Since the “house” is in the first beach block, there is only parking for ONE car. Cars are not allowed to park in the driveway in the first (or maybe the second) beach block. Lot of house for very little parking. I called the realtor and she informed me that it COULD be converted back to a hotel or condos, BUT maybe she was just trying to sell it to me!
A zoning variance would be required. Minimum requirements such as a full bathroom in every condo unit and minimum room sizes would have to be met. The HPC would not be involved unless exterior changes were proposed.
HPC member
I think that once it is a single family, it cannot go to condos, but perhaps someone from the Township or HPC will comment.
bet the future buyer converts it to condos
Given the parking is already horrible in that part of town, it’s good to hear it can’t be converted back into a hotel. I was fearing that or condos.
Wow, if only one could win the lottery and/or turn it back into a hotel.. FYI, the “Small Hotel with the Wishing Well” was referred to Culligan’s Stockton Inn in Stockton, NJ near the Delaware River. My Mom and Dad and I used to have lunch there on our way to New Hope, PA. and they still had the wishing well. Also Richard Rodgers had a summer home on the river on the PA. side near Stockton.
Editor’s note: Thanks Anna, but I doubt too many people in the Grove will sympathize with your lottery fantasy. As you know, Richard Rodgers wrote the music in 1936, but his first partner Lorenz Hart came up with the lyrics. Stockton is a fun little town to visit. The wishing well is still there, but there’s no water in it. There used to be a wonderful small down-home restaurant across the street called Meil’s, but I hear that they have been replaced by another eatery.—Paul
$31,2633 in taxes for a 3+ storey structure on FOUR lots!
Hey, I pay almost $12,000 for my 1890 2 story on only ONE lot.
What’s up Doc?
Puzzled taxpayer.