NORTH WILDWOOD ─ “The place is a mess,” Bonnie McNamara told the Herald Aug. 23, referring to her home at Marina Bay Towers. Lacing the skyline of North Wildwood, Marina Bay Towers stands testament to residents who persisted through years of litigation with Towers’ owner Paul Cocoziello.
In a recent court order, Superior Court Judge Mark Sandson granted Cocoziello’s request to restructure Marina Bay Towers, converting the two top floors into condos for sale. A manager was appointed by the court to oversee repairs.
However, according to McNamara, only 40 residents remain in the Towers and conditions are not what residents hoped.
The Marina Bay Towers case also involves the City of North Wildwood in the bankruptcy and foreclosure portion. Submitting to the court order, city officials introduced an ordinance Aug. 21 providing for the restructuring.
Mayor Patrick Rosenello told the Herald that the city’s long-standing 20-year financial agreement would concur with Sandson’s ruling.
Rosenello assured residents the ruling “does not change a whole lot for the city” and the restructuring will be referred to the Zoning Board. Rosenello added that a floor would be added to the building.
Structural damage, harking back to Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and other problems have plagued the building since 2012, although claims of previous damage exist.
According to previous information, Marina Bay Towers suffered “multi-million dollar damage” in Superstorm Sandy. That damage made approximately 95 percent of the apartment units “uninhabitable.”
A release from 2015 read, “There have been now more than eight years of litigation between Marina Bay Towers’ ownership and its investors against the City (North Wildwood) in an attempt to right these wrongs.” These words still capture the essence of the legal web involving Marina Bay residents, North Wildwood, and Cocoziello.
Salvatore Perillo, attorney for Cocoziello, told the Herald in a previous interview that under late Mayor William Henfey, the city assessed the property at $14 million and sought taxes from Marina Bay Towers.
The court ruled that, based on three separate laws, Marina Bay Towers was exempt from real estate taxation, according to Perillo.
North Wildwood sold tax lien certificates to Royal Tax Lien LLC d/b/a Crusader Lien Services in January 2007 and again in 2008. Cocoziello fought the city in court.
Then, in 2012, a principal of Crusader, and soon the organization itself, both pled guilty to felonies following grand jury indictments and a U.S. Attorney’s “probe to anti-trust violations.”
The charges alleged, “representatives and principals of Crusader engaged in bid-rigging tax lien sales at municipal auctions.”
According to Rosenello, the Marina Bay Towers case is “complex.” Eight years of legal conflict press Towers residents, and the city suffered financial loss in recent years due to the case.
Marina Bay residents thanked the city for standing by them as the matter continues to unfold.
To contact Rachel Rogish, email rrogish@cmcherald.com.
