OCEAN CITY – Local officials, developers and project partners gathered this week to celebrate the grand opening of a new bayside hotel and boardwalk.
With more than four years of planning and development in the books, project representatives joined with local officials on Tuesday to commemorate the opening of the new Cambria Hotel and bayside boardwalk with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Located at the site of the old Cropper concrete plant on 1st Street, the waterfront hotel features 137 rooms, two full-service restaurants, event space, indoor and outdoor pools and views of the surrounding bay.
“It’s truly delivering a unique experience that is very specific to what Ocean City has to offer,” said Janis Cannon, Choice Hotels’ senior vice president of upscale brands, “and that’s what makes it great.”
In 2018, Choice Hotels, along with its project partners the PINNacle Hospitality Group and the Wankawala Organization, broke ground on new hotel after roughly two years of vetting and a new zoning designation that included the conveyance of a 10-foot wide public access easement and a contribution of $165,000 for the development of a bayside boardwalk.
In his remarks Tuesday, Mayor Rick Meehan took time to recognize the new promenade. He noted its construction was a significant step in connecting commercial properties along the bayside.
“The boardwalk is actually a very important piece of this project because it creates a public right of way for people to move along the bayside and really enjoy the waterfront, watch the fishermen, enjoy the sunsets, and really connect with all the other businesses and restaurants,” he said. “It’s long been a goal of the town of Ocean City to have this boardwalk run parallel to the bay and wrap all the way around to the oceanside. This is a big step in that direction.”
The boardwalk’s development, however, did not come without its challenges. Last year, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the developer of the Cambria came before the Mayor and Council seeking a deferral of the $165,000 payment, which was a condition of the property’s zoning and site plan approvals. The issue was eventually resolved, and the Cambria was able to open last August after making the contribution and gaining its certificate of occupancy.
Officials this week commended the developer and Choice representatives for their work in developing a landmark hotel, which can be seen as visitors enter the resort from the bridge.
“Yes, this used to be a concrete plant – and thank goodness it was because we used that concrete to build Ocean City – but today what you have built is certain something that is much more appealing and much more promising as you cross that Route 50 Bridge and come into our fabulous community,” Meehan said.
PINNacle President and CEO Tauhid Islam noted the construction of the Cambria would not have been possible without the support of project partners and family.
“It’s been a journey,” he said. “It started when one guy came up and decided to stand on a concrete plant and see a vision that something is possible, bigger than what was here. The idea has always been to make something better than what is here.”
In addition to the ribbon cutting ceremony, officials this week celebrated the grand opening with a $1,000 donation to the Ocean City Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.
