What Brigantine's Closed Beachfront Resort Shows Condo Buyers About Shared Buildings
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
Since August 21, 2025, some New Jersey condo sellers have owed buyers one extra document before a contract is signed. If the association's board has chosen to fund its capital reserves at 85 percent of what its reserve study recommends, every unit owner gets a notice printed in 20-point bold type. The notice states the year a special assessment or loan is expected and how much it will be. A seller in that association must give the buyer a copy of the most recent notice before the purchase contract is signed, under P.L.2025, c.132.
That notice is the state putting a number on something shore condo owners have always carried. In a shared building, part of your future costs is set by the people across the hall. This year in Brigantine, a beachfront building on Ocean Avenue showed what that looks like when a building runs short of money.
The Brigantine Inn Resort Club sits at 1400–1500 Ocean Avenue. It is a timeshare resort under the Legacy Vacation Resorts Brigantine Beach name, and it is currently closed. The Press of Atlantic City reported that firefighters evacuated guests from the nine-story, 91-unit building on Aug. 14, 2026, after elevator failures in a building that already had a history of fire-code violations. The resort closed. The Philadelphia Business Journal described it as the property's second closure in six months.
The Press account of what came before is a timeline worth knowing:
The Brigantine Inn Resort Club Condominium Association imposed the special assessment. It said the money would cover years of operating deficits, building work and enough operating cash to reopen. According to the Press, a single ownership week drew a bill in the thousands of dollars, and owners of multiple weeks faced larger totals due within weeks.
The figure that explains the case is in the association's proposed budget. The Press reported that it set aside roughly $9.1 million to cover uncollectible bad debt and $3.5 million for capital improvements.
| Proposed budget line | Approximate amount |
|---|---|
| Uncollectible owner debt | $9.1 million |
| Capital improvements | $3.5 million |
The budget planned to spend more than twice as much covering other owners' unpaid bills as fixing the building. In its Oct. 1 letter, the board said a growing number of owners had stopped paying their annual fees, and that the unpaid assessments left a shortfall that falls on the owners who have paid. As of that letter, the association said it had not collected enough to begin the work and could not confirm whether the resort would reopen for the 2027 season.
In any shared building that runs short of money, unpaid fees get spread across the owners who keep paying, so their bills grow as more owners fall behind. The Press reported that owners now face three paths: pay, contest the bills, or surrender their timeshares for $500 under the association's terms. The association has warned that unpaid assessments could lead to suspended ownership rights, liens, collection referrals and reports to credit bureaus.
A timeshare week is not a deeded condo unit on Brigantine's beachfront, and the comparison has limits. The money works the same way, though. Owners of a whole condo unit also share common expenses, and their costs also depend on how many neighbors keep paying and how much the board has set aside.
New Jersey's rules changed twice in two years. They do not reach every building in the same way. The reporting on the Brigantine Inn does not say whether that building falls under the structural inspection rules, and nothing here connects its assessment to them.
The first change was P.L.2023, c.214, approved and effective January 8, 2024. As written, it does the following:
The second change, P.L.2025, c.132, defines "adequate" reserves as enough money that the reserve balance never falls below zero over the 30-year plan. It also created the 85 percent option described at the top of this post. An existing association may use it for no more than five fiscal years after the amendment took effect, and it carries the 20-point notice to owners and the seller-to-buyer handoff.
Two points from the DCA guidance matter to an owner's budget. Inspection and reserve-study costs are common expenses shared by unit owners. DCA also says it does not oversee how owner-controlled associations fund reserves or set assessments, and that disputes over those decisions may require civil litigation. The law requires associations to study and disclose their reserve needs, and how much to fund remains each association's decision.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. If you are weighing a specific building, review the association documents with your attorney and the right professionals.
The Atlantic County numbers suggest buyers have room to do that review. The NJ Realtors Local Market Update for September 2026 covers the whole county, not Brigantine alone. It shows townhouse-condos moving more slowly than single-family homes.
| Atlantic County, September 2026 | Single-family | Townhouse-condo |
|---|---|---|
| Days on market until sale | 40 | 58 |
| Percent of list price received | 98.5% | 95.9% |
| Months supply of inventory | 4.2 | 5.5 |
| Inventory for sale | 804 | 461 |
Townhouse-condos sold for a smaller share of their asking price in September 2026 than in September 2025, when they received 97.2 percent. Townhouse-condo months of supply rose from 5.0 to 5.5 over the same period. In a market where buyers wait almost two months and sellers give up about four percent from list, asking for the reserve study, the latest budget and any 85 percent notice is a normal part of the process.
One September figure is misleading. The county's townhouse-condo median sales price rose 20 percent year over year that month, to $329,990. The year-to-date median through September 2026 rose only 1.6 percent, to $254,000. With 119 townhouse-condo closings in the month, a few more beachfront or newer units can move the median a lot. The steadier year-to-date number tells you more. Townhouse-condo prices across the county have been close to flat this year, so a building's finances do more than overall price trends to separate one unit from another.
The city has already started planning for the site. Brigantine's 2026 Master Plan Reexamination calls the property an important lodging and tourism asset within walking distance of the City Hall business district, beach access, restaurants and civic facilities. It says the property "should be evaluated for substantial rehabilitation or redevelopment where improvements would advance these planning objectives." The Planning Board's October agenda scheduled final review and adoption of the reexamination for its Oct. 28 meeting, and no application for the resort parcel was on that agenda. Meeting agendas and the board's 2026 schedule are on the Brigantine Planning Board page.
Mayor Vince Sera told the Press that the timeshare owners support the island's restaurants and local businesses each week, and that he hoped the property could reopen safely or find a buyer. "Maybe they can sell to an investor who would create a hotel there," he said in the Press of Atlantic City report.
Does the 85 percent notice apply to every New Jersey condo? No. It applies only to an existing association whose board chose to fund reserves at 85 percent of its study's plan. That option is limited to five fiscal years after the 2025 amendment.
Who pays for the structural inspection and reserve study? According to DCA guidance, those costs are common expenses shared by the unit owners.
Is the Brigantine Inn Resort Club reopening? As of the board's Oct. 1 letter, the association said it could not confirm a reopening for the 2027 season.
If you're comparing condo buildings on Brigantine or elsewhere on Absecon Island, I'm glad to go through the association's budget, reserve study and delinquency picture with you before you make an offer. Lawrence Stone has been helping shore buyers since 2004. Let's Connect.
Get assistance in determining current property value, crafting a competitive offer, writing and negotiating a contract, and much more. Contact me today.
