By DEREK HARPER Staff Writer, (609) 272-7203
Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Original article courtesy Press of Atlantic City

A prominent oceanfront property in the South Inlet recently sold and residents hope the new owners will make some needed improvements while the owners plan a condominium conversion.

The Waterside Apartment complex at New Hampshire and Oriental avenues sold for $23,336,900 on Feb. 16, according to property records.

The seafoam-colored property built in 1962 and angled toward the ocean, commands a spectacular view. And because the nearby Absecon Inlet jetty has accumulated sand behind it, tenants essentially have several hundred feet of semi-private beach.

The 10-story, 347-unit building was bought by 15-35 Hempstead LLC and Jackson 299 Hempstead LLC. New York State business records link those to Long Island, N.Y. properties owned at different times by New York City builder Steve Kates and his wife, Angelina.

They are the buyers, confirmed Prudential Fox and Roach Broker Associate Irene Foley-Chort.

Foley-Chort said the property was “the absolute crown jewel of Atlantic City.” But she said the new owners are in the first stages of what they will do with the property. In the interim, they are renting units for between $750 and $1,750
The building’s prominence and closeness to the ocean means it has been pummeled by storms from the northeast for years.

“It needs a lot of work and we’re just getting started with everything,” Foley-Chort said. But Kates “wants to make it into the most fabulous place in Atlantic City.”

Kates has told the residents he plans a condominium conversion, starting with vacant units, said tenants George Mahood and Phil Wiles.

The drop ceilings would be removed, carpets replaced with hardwood flooring, and kitchens upgraded. The units would then be sold or rented.

Kates also reportedly wants to bring back now-empty stores on the Boardwalk as well as fix the leaks and replace some windows.

Wiles, head of building’s tenants association, hoped Kates would also address security and maintenance issues.

While there is an advertised 24-hour concierge, the position is not always filled. Also, Wiles worried that the building’s garage door does not completely close and could allow intruders. He and Mahood both said the occasionally storm-battered building leaks and there are insects.

But they were encouraged. Wiles and others had worried in December that a sale would mean evictions. Not true.

At a tenants meeting Kates attended, Wiles said he “was talking about the building needs a lot of work, and we all said, ‘Amen.’”

To e-mail Derek Harper at The Press: dharper@pressofac.com