The City of Myrtle Beach is making an all out effort to attract more private investors into the downtown area.
In doing so, the City of Myrtle Beach is proposing to buy 10 parcels located just South of the former Myrtle Beach pavilion for $15 million. City Council will vote on this measure today.
The parcels sit one street south of the former Myrtle Beach Pavilion.
Noam Pyade is the owner of these properties. Pyade served on the board of the former Downtown Redevelopment Corporation.
PICTURES OF NEWLY PROPOSED CITY SQUARE
In the city’s presentation, a nuisance list of calls to the property is cited. The City of Myrtle Beach also states the structures are dated, crime ridden and in decline.
Other properties with these exact complaints have been bulldozed and closed by the city. The city has not uniformly offered to purchase all declining properties city-wide at three times market price.
ONE EXAMPLE OF TYPICAL CITY RESPONSES TO DATED HOTELS
Pyade purchased the properties between 2013 and 2017. Pyade paid just over $5.6 million for the 10 parcels. Between four and eight years later, the city is offering to buy the declining properties for $15 million.
Previous owners of those same hotels claim they were harassed by the city to the point where they simply wanted out of the downtown.
Former Oasis Motel owner, Shai David, routinely complained to the local press that the city was not doing its job to minimize crime in the area. David spoke to WPDE NEWS in this now archived article stating:
David said it’s frustrating when he’s following the rules, but the city isn’t.
“I think the city has a responsibility to be a role model and to actually show what’s the right thing to take care of things,” David said.
Myrtle Beach Spokesperson Mark Kruea said David has a point and that the city needs to make sure they are maintaining the public property but said there is a lot to maintain.
Kruea said the city is aware of David’s concerns.
“We know that the area needs some attention, so we’re gearing up to do that sooner rather than later,” Kruea said.
David said it won’t take many improvements to make a big difference just some paint, landscaping, and trash cans.
At the end of the day, David said it’s not just for his business; it ultimately improves the image of the city to the tourist who visit here each year.
After the article aired, city inspectors were later videoed kicking in a rail on the facility.
The complaints by the city against the Oasis continued until DRC leader, Noam Pyade purchased the property from a distraught David. Once Pyade purchased the Oasis, the city’s complaints ended entirely.
Crime on the property and its sister property, the Fountain Bleau, then escalated. Under Pyade’s ownership, these properties were never once placed on the city’s infamous nuisance list.
Other similar private properties were bulldozed at the owners’ expenses.
SEE PYADE’S PURCHASE PRICES ON SCRIBD
Pyade Purchase Price of Pro… by MyrtleBeachSC news
A NEW ERA
The City of Myrtle Beach needs a new downtown.
The city also needs to attract new private investors.
Questions remain as to if the end justifies the means in how the city approached this initial redevelopment effort.