This pair of hotels is for sale at the Jersey Shore

What’s better than one hotel for sale in a bustling Jersey Shore town?

How about two hotels for sale on an adjoining property.

The Bluewater Inn and the recently renovated The Cove in Ocean City are on the market for a combined total of $8.75 million.

“The properties are located right in the heart of the hospitality zone,” said Kristina Doliszny, of Ocean City Real Estate Group, eXp Realty, the listing agent. “You couldn’t get a better location.”

The hotels are on 8th Street and Ocean Avenue, about two blocks from the ocean and boardwalk. Eighth Street also connects the Ocean City Boardwalk to downtown shopping.

“It’s the Times Square of tourism in Ocean City,” she said.

Ocean City is known as “America’s Greatest Family Resort” and has been voted New Jersey’s best beach in a New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s poll for the past four consecutive years.

NJ.com also voted its boardwalk the best of the 18 boardwalks in the Garden State.

“Some people argue that it’s better than Disney,” Doliszny said.

Ocean City is listed among the Jersey Shore’s wealthiest beach towns, along with Avalon, Stone Harbor and Long Beach Island, she said. It’s a dry town, meaning you cannot purchase or publicly consume alcohol and it has a lot of amusements and amenities to entertain families.

“It’s safe, clean and it attracts a lot of people with high disposable incomes,” Doliszny said, adding that real estate prices have quadrupled there in the last 10 years, “making it a fabulous investment opportunity.”

The town also has a shortage of short-term rentals, she said.

In the past 30 years, several hotels, bed & breakfasts and other hospitality properties have been torn down and replaced with single family, duplex and triplex homes, she said. “The number of units available for rent has considerably decreased.”

The Bluewater Inn and The Cove are currently owned by an investment group that is rearranging their portfolio by selling off some smaller hotels so that they can buy larger ones, Doliszny said.

They bought the two hotels about three years ago and completed a total renovation of The Cove last summer.

The Cove has 29 rooms, including three, two-bedroom suites, plus 10 rooms that can house hotel staff or other island employees.

It has a wrap-around porch, a common living room, an in-ground swimming pool and 25 on-site parking spaces. The 11,522 square foot, four-story building sits on a 0.33 acre lot. Suites rent for $619 per night and guest rooms go for $280 per night.

It can be purchased individually for $5 million.

The Bluewater Inn, meanwhile, has a total of 40 units -- 32 hotel suites, five apartments, including three, one-bedroom; one, two-bedroom; one, three bedroom and a manager’s efficiency apartment. There are also three commercial units that are leased, one to a full-service restaurant and two to food and beverage service businesses.

It also has three courtesy day rooms with showers, a laundry facility and 28 parking spaces. The 17,254 square foot, four-story building sits on 0.62 acres. Nightly rates for suites are $197 and guest rooms are $146.

It can be purchased by itself for $3.9 million.

The Cove was put on the market about three weeks ago and the dual listing went live about a week ago.

There has been “tremendous” interest, Doliszny said. But things have been slow going because potential buyers have to prove they are financially qualified and sign confidentiality agreements.

“There is a process,” she said.

The buyer will likely be someone who is trying to get into the Ocean City market or expand their assets in the area.

“I think it will be an experienced hotelier who wants to get their foot in the door in Ocean City, which is very difficult to do,” Doliszny said, “or somebody who has a portfolio of Airbnbs and wants to expand their assets to diversify into hotel markets.”

Are you an agent, buyer or seller who is active in this changing market? Do you have tips about New Jersey’s real estate market? Unusual listings? Let us know.

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Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com.