June 25, 2026
Michael Tanenbaum/for PhillyVoice
Gillian's Wonderland Pier closed in Ocean City nearly two years ago. Icona Resorts, which owns the property at 600 Boardwalk, wants to build a luxury hotel where zoning doesn't allow it. City Council must decide whether to designate the property as an area in need of rehabilitation, addressing the zoning obstacle and other matters related to the fiercely debated project.
Ocean City leaders will vote Thursday night on the future of the boardwalk's former Gillian's Wonderland Pier site, deciding a key question related to the contentious proposal to build a luxury hotel.
City Council is deciding whether the property at 600 Boardwalk should be designated as an area in need of rehabilitation. The designation is based on state law and covers zoning and other facets of redevelopment. It has been requested by owner Eustace Mita of the Jersey Shore hotel chain Icona Resorts, which seeks to build a 252-room hotel at the site despite local zoning laws that prohibit new hotels on the boardwalk.
The roughly 2 1/2-acre property was an amusement park for nearly six decades before Mayor Jay Gillian, whose family operated Wonderland Pier for three generations, closed the struggling attraction in October 2024. Mita had purchased the debt-burdened property three years earlier, preventing it from going to a sheriff's sale and allowing Gillian to keep Wonderland afloat temporarily.
Over the past year, members of City Council and the Ocean City Planning Board have been divided about the rehabilitation designation amid a fierce public debate over the merits of a hotel. The purpose of the designation is to aid development in places that are deteriorated or underutilized. Some opponents of the hotel project believe granting the designation, instead of amending zoning ordinances at the local level, will allow Icona Resorts to skirt government oversight and escape public scrutiny of the project.
City Council's first pass at the issue last August resulted in a 6-1 vote against a recommendation for the planning board to review the rehabilitation designation. Council then held a second vote in December, going 4-3 in favor of sending the matter to the planning board. The next month, the planning board reached a 4-4 deadlock on whether the Wonderland Pier property meets the criteria for rehabilitation.
Gillian, who won reelection to his fifth term in May, defeating council members Keith Hartzell and Pete Madden, has largely remained neutral in public comments about the Wonderland Pier site. Given his connection to the property and questions about his relationship with Mita, Gillian has advocated deference to professional insight on the best outcome for the boardwalk.
During a debate before the election, all three candidates agreed it was time for the city to take action on the future of the property. Hartzell said he would be supportive of a smaller hotel project. Madden, the most vocal backer of the rehabilitation designation, said a hotel will strengthen the boardwalk and give the city a direct channel with Mita to shape the project.
Entering Thursday night, two new reports gave City Council more clarity on the status of the property and broader factors affecting the future of the boardwalk.
An advisory subcommittee created by City Council spent seven months evaluating the Wonderland Pier site alongside master planning for the entire boardwalk. The group's final report recommends a middle ground approach. The subcommittee found market data supports building a new hotel, but said any project should preserve the character of the boardwalk and incorporate public-facing entertainment and amenities.
City Council also hired an outside planning and engineering firm to assess whether 600 Boardwalk qualifies for the rehabilitation designation. The report concluded the property meets the state's legal criteria, citing concrete sections that are in poor condition and about $3.9 million in repairs needed for the pier's foundation and piling. The remaining Wonderland Pier rides, including the Ferris wheel and carousel that are now out of commission, also need several million dollars in estimated repairs, the report found.
Mita's proposed hotel, expected to cost up to $170 million, includes plans to rehabilitate the Ferris wheel and carousel. Mita opened a pizza parlor, bakery and bike rental shop at the existing Wonderland Pier building last summer. If he's unable to build a hotel, Mita has said he will sell the property to one of two prospective buyers who would both be seeking the same rehabilitation designation to construct townhomes at the site.
A vote to give the property the rehabilitation designation does not mean Mita's hotel project is approved, but it paves the way for Ocean City to engage in direct negotiations with him about the scope of his plans. The designation also opens the door to the city obtaining state tax incentives for redeveloping the site. In October, Ocean City designated the former Seaspray Condominiums at 34th Street and Bay Avenue an area in need of rehabilitation. A new condo building is now planned at that site.
Ocean City 2050, a civic group opposed to Mita's current plans, argues the city will cede leverage to the developer if the Wonderland Pier property gets designated for rehabilitation. The group instead wants the city to follow normal procedures with the zoning and planning boards, granting conditional use for a hotel as long as other priorities are enforced.
"This isn't a neutral step," the group said in a Facebook post ahead of Thursday's vote. "Redevelopment gives the developer, not the City, more power — it bypasses the Planning Board, can override zoning and the Master Plan, and moves negotiations out of public view. A rehabilitation declaration isn't a starting point. It's a shortcut that cuts the public out."
Groups against the hotel fear it will change the family-friendly character of the boardwalk and misuse a space better served by public amenities for entertainment and dining. When Wonderland Pier closed, Gillian said the amusement park was no longer a viable business due to rising maintenance, insurance and labor costs. Some opponents of the hotel also fear a large project will create a physical barrier that looms above an otherwise open and accessible boardwalk.
The proposed Icona Resorts hotel has received support from the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce and Boardwalk Merchants Association.
