The city wants to convert the former Crown Bank building into a police facility; business owners there fear being pushed out.
OCEAN CITY, NJ — A city plan to purchase a historic downtown building for use as a police headquarters has drawn criticism from local business owners.
The former Crown Bank building, located at 801 Asbury Ave., has served as the Shoppes at Asbury for the past few years. It’s also served as a temporary police building for several months. At a recent City Council meeting, a bond ordinance was introduced to purchase the building and neighboring parking lot for $12.6 million. But vendors at the Shoppes at Asbury were afraid this would endanger their businesses.
“Essentially, this purchase will put me out of business and leave me with substantial inventory, with no place to sell it,” said Gloria Baker, owner of Flirt Jewelry Co. and Flirt Lingerie and Luxe Sleepwear at the Shoppes. “My livelihood will be gone.”
Baker noted how expensive it is to have a storefront on Asbury Avenue. “Finding affordable retail space on Asbury Avenue is like finding a needle in a haystack,” she said.
Another resident, speaking on behalf of Erica Onofrio, who owns Soul Dreams Studio at the Shoppes, echoed Baker’s concerns.
“This is more than just a small business,” he read from Onofrio’s letter. “It is my life’s purpose. It is my livelihood.”
The idea behind purchasing the building instead of renovating the existing public safety building as had been the previous plan is that this could be a more cost effective option, officials explained.
City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said that the city was doing its due diligence in exploring options, but wanted to close on the purchase on or before Nov. 15 as New Jersey’s mansion tax would add an extra $400,000 to the purchase.
City Council members expressed interest in keeping the retail aspect of the building, and police would work on higher floors.
“I think it’s very important that the front level be retail,” Councilman Keith Hartzell said.
This was the first reading for the ordinance; it will be up for a second reading with public comment and final vote at the Oct. 9 City Council meeting.