Summer OC lodging figures slightly down so far in 2023

By Remy Andersen Staff Writer

(July 28, 2023) Lodging companies have noticed their numbers being slightly off for this season, as tourists haven’t been coming down in the typical droves that are often associated with the bustling summer season.

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According to the website Smith Travel Research, the occupancy level for hotels and motels in Ocean City for the month of June was at 67.4 percent, a 2.6 percent decrease from the previous year.

The average daily rate, or ADR, for the month of June was at $232.35,

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Continued from Page 1 two years ago to build a 257-room, 12-story resort hotel and conference center at the former Phillips Beach Plaza property between 13th and 14th streets. The initial project was billed as an anomaly for the area, with amenities including several swimming pools, large conference spaces, multiple upscale retail establishments facing the ocean, and more.

The overlay district, which needed 90,000 square feet of contiguous space, was required to bring the original plans to fruition. It also would have allowed for more compromise and flexibility between the developer and city officials than building the project through a traditional site plan.

With just 84,000 square feet in their possession, the developers needed to buy a roughly 6,000 square-foot right-of-way along Baltimore Avenue to make it to 90,000. But the efforts hit snag after snag before council members effectively killed the deal in May with a narrow vote.

Now, Cropper said the developers have reconfigured the project and submitted new plans with less conference space and amenities, as well as smaller ancillary and accessory areas.

“It was a resort and conference center under the POD. This will look more like a hotel. A traditional hotel,” Cropper said.

The plans, which were submitted for site plan review July 17, do not require any special exceptions, variances or code changes. Cropper said he believes the number of rooms and height of the building will stay the same, with the design the primary difference.

“It’s still a Margaritaville, still a great design, just not as nice as the other one,” Cropper said. “It’s still going to be a great design and consistent with everything Margaritaville does.”

He added that while the new plans are reviewed, the developers are still holding out hope for the old ones.

“We have not abandoned the POD … We still think it’s the preferred form of development,” Cropper said.

City Manager Terry McGean said this week that while he has not officially received a request from the developers for council to reconsider letting them buy the right-of-way needed for the zoning designation, he anticipates it will end up on a future agenda.