Lu Fran Motel To Become The Beach House Motel
There are a ton of changes taking place all over the Wildwoods this off-season. Most of the projects are featured in our monthly Wildwoods Construction Updates.
You can watch October’s Wildwoods Construction Update at the bottom of this page.
One of the projects we covered in that update is the Lu Fran Motel. Located at 5106 Ocean Ave in Wildwood (the intersection of Bennett and Ocean), the Lu Fran was built during the heyday when Mid-Century motels were being built on every block on the island.
Lu Fran Motel Going Condotel
Since it first opened, not too much had changed on the property. Its original porcelain-faced neon signs was still hanging, the last in the Wildwoods, it’s colors hadn’t changed much and it’s original railings were still standing.
All this changed back in December 2021 when the motel sold for $2,550,000. Plans that were submitted to Wildwood’s Zoning and Planning board screamed that this Doo-Wop building would become a condotel.
A condotel is a motel that goes condominium aka Condotel.
The plans called for the existing 24 motel rooms to be converted into 26 rooms. This would be achieved by removing the owner’s room and the main office and making them into livable spaces.
For the past ten months, tons of work has been taking place on the property. The windows ripped out, the roof torn down, walls was removed, the railing replaced, new paint applied and the signs removed.
Lu Fran Motel Sign Put Up For Sale
The Wildwoods Historical Society was supposed to get the sign but unfortunately when the roofers when to remove the roof the supports buckled causing it to crash to the ground.
Fast-forward a few months and we now have a different story to tell about this building.
The Wildwood Video Archive had received an insider tip from a reader who informed us that the Lu Fran will once again be a motel under the new name “The Beach House Motel.”
A quick search online confirmed this as all of the booking websites for the Lu Fran motel now read “The Beach House Motel” or “The Beach House Motel Wildwood.”
Lu Fran Motel To Become The Beach House Motel
One of the booking websites, Expedia, even had an updated description of the motel saying;
“The Beach House provides amenities like a terrace and laundry facilities. All 26 rooms include comforts such as premium bedding and air conditioning, in addition to thoughtful touches like free WiFi.”
While this isn’t much information, according to our inside guy, most of these rooms will be different size suits and the owners plan to put in a coffee bar.
The WVA is extremely happy to hear that this will continue to say a motel rather than a condotel. This is a project that will be covered in the next Wildwoods Construction update videos.
We wish the owners of the new Beach House Motel the best of luck!
Below is October’s Wildwoods Construction Update. Before you watch please consider subscribing to our Youtube Channel.