Mega resort planned for Wildwood Crest

Wildwood Crest will see two of its iconic motels, the Royal Hawaiian and the former Oceanview, combined into one mega resort this summer, Madison Resorts has announced.

The hospitality company, which owns the Montreal Beach Resort and Harry’s Ocean Bar and Grille in Cape May, said it had purchased the Royal Hawaiian for $13.4 million and planned $7 million in renovations.

That property will be combined with the former doo-wop-style Oceanview Motel located at 7201 Ocean Ave., across a parking lot from the Royal Hawaiian. The company was already in the process of renovating the Oceanview, and had demolished its distinctive futuristic “blastoff roof,” a mid-century style that mimicked the flight of a jet taking off.

According to a company release, the renovation of the shuttered Oceanview turned into a “major demolition and rebuild” project, setting back the opening date. The new project will be a “modern facility that pays homage to the popular doo-wop architecture.”

The planned combined property, to be called Madison Resort Wildwood Crest, will have 200 rooms, three restaurants, two pools, and rooftop event spaces, and will be set up to host beachfront weddings.

The company said it anticipated opening the Oceanview portion of its project in early spring, in time for Wildwood’s popular country Barefoot Music Festival, and the Royal Hawaiian portion, on Orchid Avenue, in early summer.

The renovated property will maintain two separate towers but combined amenities, the company said. The Royal Hawaiian’s interior and pool will be updated.

Dan Alicea, president of Madison Resorts, said the company initially planned on reconstructing the Oceanview’s lobby, updating rooms, and making “minor touch-ups” to the pool but transitioned to a more ambitious project after seeing that the property was “in need of a complete rebuild.”

Since then, the company has “completely rebuilt the rooms, demolished and repoured the pool, added a hot tub, added new exterior railings, built brand-new staircases, removed the deck that was in disrepair to make room for unobstructed views of the ocean, built a second elevator, replaced concrete work, added bistro lighting and speakers around the pool.”

Alicea said the company was still committed to preserving the doo-wop-themed architecture in the Wildwoods, which have seen multiple distinctive historic properties torn down in recent years.

“In order for us to deliver our promise in maintaining the doo-wop architecture, the iconic glass in the lobby had to be custom made for the project,” Alicea said.