Diamond Beach developer buys Pier 6600 Motor Inn

Developer buys Cape motel for resort project
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 9, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 9, 2006

LOWER TOWNSHIP — Diamond Beach developer Eustace Mita has purchased the Pier 6600 Motor Inn and plans eventually to turn the oceanfront site into part of his $250 million Grand Resort and Spa project.

Mita, reached on his cell phone Wednesday afternoon while he was on a commercial airliner, said he would operate Pier 6600 as a hotel for several more years. Eventually. it will be demolished and become the second phase of his project.

“It's a great piece. It really completes the whole puzzle,” Mita said.

The first phase, which recently got local approvals but still needs a state environmental permit, is to tear down the old Grand Hotel and build a 12-story structure that will contain 125 condominium units. The units are already being marketed in a price range from $899,000 to $4 million.

Mita said the second phase of the project is three to five years away. Mita did not want to disclose the purchase price from owners Charles and Margaret Masciarella but said it was “tens of millions of dollars.” Besides the hotel, the purchase also includes the beachfront.

Although Mita credited the Masciarellas with taking great care of the hotel, he said 1970s-era buildings, including The Grand, don't fit in with all the new construction in Diamond Beach.

“I'm excited. The Pier and The Grand are the only buildings that did not add to the beauty of Diamond Beach.

By tearing down The Grand and doing something with the Pier, you'll have buildings no older than 1984 and 1985. It's the beautification of Diamond Beach,” Mita said.

The Grand Resort and Spa project still needs a state Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) permit. Mita hopes to begin the demolition of the old Grand Hotel by May 1.

Mita said he had been trying to buy Pier 6600 for three years and finally closed on the deal about three weeks ago.