OCEAN CITY, Md. – In an innovative move to address the critical shortage of student worker housing, Kevin Gibbs, the owner of the restaurant The Dough Roller, has recently acquired the Ocean Manor Hotel with plans to convert it into accommodations for seasonal employees. This initiative comes as a response to the growing demand for affordable living spaces for the workforce that supports the city's bustling tourism industry.
"We were lucky enough to locate a property that we could use for workforce housing, and we purchased it," Gibbs stated. He explained that the property, previously offering weekly rentals, is being transformed primarily into workforce housing, scheduled to be ready just in time for the summer season.
Despite this development, Zach Bankert, the Executive Director for the Ocean City Development Corporation (OCDC), highlighted that the city still faces a significant shortfall in adequate housing for its seasonal workforce. "There's still a shortage of workforce housing. We are excited about a few research projects that are underway or almost done that will hopefully put a dent in that deficiency that we have right now. But we still have a way to go with that," Bankert commented.
The OCDC is actively working with businesses in downtown Ocean City to mitigate the student worker housing crisis. In support of these efforts, the organization has announced a substantial grant aimed at encouraging local businesses to develop or refurbish workforce housing. The grant offers up to $25,000 to cover development costs such as surveys, soil samples, and architectural plans, or for rehabilitating existing accommodations.
While this financial assistance is a step in the right direction, it is limited and distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. The OCDC is hopeful that more businesses will leverage this opportunity to increase the availability of housing for seasonal student workers, thereby alleviating one of the most pressing challenges facing the community.