Government

Owners Pitch Plan to Breathe New Life Into Seaside Heights Liquor Store Property

by
Daniel Nee
March 4, 2025

TC’s Liquor, Seaside Heights, N.J. (Credit: Google Maps)

The owners of a Seaside Heights liquor store is seeking to improve the property, expand the interior and make way for an ice cream shop to operate in a space where one had long been planned.

TC’s Liquor, at the corner of Central and Hamilton avenues, would retain its current footprint, according to attorney Matthew Heagan, who addressed the borough’s planning board during a work session portion of its meeting Monday night. The work session allows property owners or developers to propose preliminary plans to the board before presenting them at a formal hearing so any early issues can be addressed.

Heagan said the building housing TC’s currently has spaces for the retail liquor store, an artist space (consisting of a vacant area under the roof), an apartment and a residence. Under the plan floated by the property owner, the interior of the liquor store would be remodeled and expanded, with current storage areas being converted into new racks and shelves for items to be sold.

Additionally, representatives of the applicant said, the “artist space” portion of the building is hardly utilized, and was originally set up to host an ice cream shop. The application that will eventually come before the board will seek approval of the ice cream shop as well as an affirmation that the liquor store use can continue within the zone.

“The only change that’s happening is that the interior the store is going to get bigger, and they’re going to re-do the windows and other things like that,” said Heagan. “The current store violates some setback requirements because those requirements didn’t exist when it was built.”

Heagan said the store owner is also seeking to make “cosmetic” upgrades to the building’s exterior to make it more attractive from the street, though the building footprint would remain as-is.