December 06, 2023
Source/Coastline Realty
A vacant stretch of land covering about 13 acres is listed for sale in tiny West Wildwood. The entire island municipality is only about 230 acres in total size.
West Wildwood is one of the smallest communities in New Jersey, covering a total area of about .36 square miles. The 2020 U.S. Census recorded its population as just 540 people living year-round in the island borough, which is connected to bustling Wildwood by a two-lane bridge across the bay at Glenwood Avenue.
Sometimes called the "forgotten town" of the Wildwoods, the community was established in the 1920s by back-filling marshlands. Bulkheads surround the borough to protect the area from flooding. Even during the busy shore season in Wildwood, North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, West Wildwood remains a relatively quiet place with a summer population of about 5,000 people.
Envisioned and planned primarily as a haven for families rather than business and tourism, West Wildwood still has a little bit of room to grow.
A pair of recent real estate listings invite a "dream maker" to purchase about 13 acres of tree-lined terrain and wetlands in an undeveloped section of West Wildwood. The land runs from the area of the West Wildwood fire station on North Drive and runs up to around Bay Avenue in the northwestern part of the borough. Together, the lots cover nearly 6% of the island.
The larger of the two lots has the address 0 Center Ave. and covers 12.37 acres. It's listed for $5.99 million. The smaller lot sits in the middle of the larger property and covers 1.77 acres. That lot has an asking price of $1.5 million.
There are no streets there, no plumbing and no utilities in the area. The real estate listing for the larger plot is intended for developers who have track records for turning nothing into something.
"It's essential to acknowledge that this is a 'sold as-is' transaction, but no worries you have probably done this a time or two ..." the listing says.
Realtor Tai Menz, of Coastline Realty, told the Press of Atlantic City that the two lots are priced to account for the millions of dollars it will cost a developer to get the necessary state and local permits and then build out basic infrastructure. That's on top of the cost to actually put homes on the land, some of which may not be suitable for construction or could be protected marshland.
Menz said there has been some interest in the listings from national home construction companies and investors, but those conversations haven't progressed.
Menz was the realtor who ultimately sold "No Man's Island," a piece of land off North Wildwood that generated some regional buzz in 2020 because of the oddity of the listing and its proximity to the popular shore town. The 19-acre island had been listed for $200,000, but Menz said it only sold for $7,500 to a man whose father once owned it as part of a duck hunting business.
The lots for sale in West Wildwood had once been owned by the same family, the Press of A.C. reported, and old maps of the borough suggest there had been the intention to develop it, but that never happened.
The listing for the main lot touts "awe-inspiring sunsets and picturesque bay views," calling the development prospects a "once-in-a-lifetime chance" in the region.
Attempts to develop this part of West Wildwood would likely take many years to complete, but it's an interesting prospect to consider as Wildwood remains one of the hottest real estate markets in the country.
