Margaritaville Developer Puts Project ‘On Hold’ For Now

OCEAN CITY — While the proposed Margaritaville Hotel and Resort complex planned for an entire ocean block does not appear to officially be dead, it is certainly on the back-burner.

Late last summer, the Ocean City Planning Commission reviewed the conceptual plans for the proposed Margaritaville Hotel and Resort, which, if approved, would encompass virtually an entire city block downtown on the oceanside facing the Boardwalk between 13^th Street and 14^th Street. The project would require approval of a planned overlay district (POD) for the entire site, meeting code requirements for parking, non-conformities, density and the like.

The proposed project over 12 different lots would include 265 hotel rooms, three restaurants, including the JWB Grill with high-end steaks and seafood, the Landshark Bar and Grill and a coffee shop and provisions store in the lobby. The project would also include three outdoor pools and one indoor pool, a wellness center and gym, 14,000 square-feet of flexible convention space, retail stores facing the Boardwalk and many other upscale amenities. The proposed location is the site of the historic Phillips Beach Plaza Hotel along the Boardwalk at 13^th Street.

The lynchpin for the project appears to be the conveyance of a portion of Washington Lane between 13^th and 14^th streets to meet the requirements of the POD. The existing 16-foot alley bisects the proposed site and the developer had requested the town to abandon the portion of Washington Lane in order to build a consolidated POD project on the vast site.

As a condition of POD approval, and eventual site plan approval, the developer would widen the existing 16-foot public right-of-way in the alley to 23 feet, with five-foot sidewalks on both sides and a three-foot bicycle lane. The portion of Washington Lane would remain open to the public under the proposed plan.

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