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Former Playland Motel Sells for $2.3 Million, Agent Says

By Katie Honan | October 26, 2017 3:07pm
 The motel, built in 2013, was seen as an example of a resurgent Rockaway peninsula. 
The motel, built in 2013, was seen as an example of a resurgent Rockaway peninsula. 
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan

ROCKAWAY BEACH — The short-lived Playland Motel, which was initially heralded as a sign of the neighborhood's hipster post-Sandy resurgence, has been sold to a group of local investors for more than $2.3 million, according to one of its sales agents.

The building at the corner of Beach 98th Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard was listed at $2.65 million, and closed Wednesday, according to Lawrence Sarn, a Managing Director of CPEX Real Estate.

He wouldn't say who purchased the building but told DNAinfo New York it's a group of business owners already working in the area. Documents pertaining to the sale have not been filed with the city yet.

"They're going to use it as a mixed use, they're looking for tenants in a commercial space, probably some type of a food-type business," he said.

The second floor, which had been used as hotel rooms, will be converted to residential, he added. 

The new owners had begun talking to various restaurateurs to possibly take over the ground-floor commercial space, Sarn said.

"They're looking to cater to the crowds that come off the subway in the summertime because there's quite a lot of foot traffic there at that time, but they also need something that's going to work well in the community," he said.

Playland Motel opened the summer after Hurricane Sandy and was viewed as a sign of a sea change. The building was completely renovated by Brooklyn-based Cayuga Capital, who turned the former Tap and Grill bar into a destination for "down for the day" beach-goers, and featured hotel rooms designed by individual artists.

But it was plagued by problems from the beginning, including neighbor complaints and city enforcement about its backyard.

The bar was shut down by a multi-agency raid in August 2016, which was the beginning of the end for Playland. It has been empty for about a year.