BERLIN – An investment company from Baltimore has purchased the long vacant Harley Davidson property on Route 50.
The 13-acre property, which was listed for $3.9 million, has been empty since the Harley Davidson dealer occupying the space closed up shop in 2010. According to Realtor Randy Bendler of Bendler Realty Corporation, the building and attached acreage was sold this month.
Bendler said he could not say the purchase price or the name of the buyer but said it was an investment company from Baltimore interested in leasing the site.
“The new owners are looking to find a quality tenant for the property,” Bendler said.
According to MLS data, the property was sold for $3 million on Feb. 12. Its assessed value in 2015 was $2.9 million.
The Harley property, located at the intersection of Route 50 and Seahawk Road, features a nearly 25,000-square-foot commercial building on 13 acres. The site is currently zoned B-1. In addition to the large parking lot in front of the store, the property includes farmland between the former McDonald’s and Casual Designs as well as farmland between Casual Designs and the next property to the east.
The building itself — built in 1973 — is concrete and houses showroom space, shop space and loading docks. From 2004 to 2010, it served as the home of Harley Davidson of Ocean City. The Ocean City motorcycle shop was first opened in West Ocean City by Harley Davidson of Seaford in 1998. A struggling economy forced the company to consolidate its business to the Seaford location in 2010.
“Due to the changes in the spending patterns of the public, which are changes driven by the current economy, it is unfortunate but necessary that we consolidate the Harley-Davidson of Ocean City location with the Harley-Davidson of Seaford store,” a statement released by the company in 2010 read. “This is, we hope, a temporary change for us, until the economy improves and the need for our second location is once again present. As we all know, three years ago this country’s economy started to undergo some huge challenges and the motorcycle industry has certainly not been spared from these economic impacts.”
Bendler says the property’s new owner wants to work with the existing building for now and hopes to lease it out. He said the company was willing to make exterior improvements to suit the tenant.
