This 37-unit project is being brought to you by Bellemore Investment Group, one of the most respected developers on Hampton Beach. Chuck Bellemore has been a part of the Hampton Beach community for decades and has repeatedly shown that he delivers a quality property. Some of his other projects include 6 Ashworth Condominiums, Seaglass Shore Condominiums, Shore Club Condominiums, Beachview Hotel & Suites, and he currently owns Beachview Oceanfront Residences.
Local officials said the property fell into good hands with Bellemore, who has owned property on the beach since 1976. Hampton Selectmen Chuck Rage and Rusty Bridle said Bellemore has cleaned up an aging property with condos that could make for second homes or rentals. “It cleaned up a place that really needed to be cleaned up,” Bridle said. “It’s good for the beach.”
Chuck Rage, who is also Chairman of the Hampton Beach Village District credited Bellemore with revitalizing another property on Ocean Boulevard. “Chuck Bellemore does everything first class. He fixed the whole place up,” Rage said. “It’s another nice property.
This is what Joe Coronati from Jones & Beech Engineering had to say regarding the project. “If you know Chuck Bellemore over the years, he does a great job,” Coronati told the Zoning Board. “He has done multiple projects at the beach and they all look very nice. … He’s one of the few brave enough to remodel an existing building.”
Bellemore has made a positive impact on the Hampton Beach community, particularly through his efforts to improve the area and contribute positively to beach businesses. His dedication and hard work have been recognized and appreciated by the community,
Former Hampton Beach Village District Marketing Director John Kane said Bellemore has been a good beach business owner.
“He was the guy that was willing to put the work back in and make it even better,” Kane said.
Max Sullivan Portsmouth Herald
HAMPTON — The old Sea Spiral Suites have been converted to condominiums with views of the water and Ocean Boulevard’s bustling tourist section.
The three structures of the former hotel at 449 Ocean Blvd. now comprise the Ocean Mist condominiums, built last year and now selling for between $200,000 and $420,000, according to developer Chuck Bellemore. He said the 37 condos, which are single rooms with a kitchenette and bathroom, are close enough to the action of Hampton Beach but far enough away to escape the “wild” when it’s time to wind down.
“You go up there, it’s unbelievable,” Bellemore said of the view from one of the upper units.
Bellemore has been working on the project since he bought the Sea Spiral in 2021 from the Bolyea family. The Bolyeas once ran numerous hotels on the beach but have recently sold several of their properties as a move toward retirement.
Local officials said the property fell into good hands with Bellemore, who has owned property on the beach since 1976. Hampton Selectmen Chuck Rage and Rusty Bridle said Bellemore has cleaned up an aging property with condos that could make for second homes or rentals.
“It cleaned up a place that really needed to be cleaned up,” Bridle said. “It’s good for the beach.”
For more than a century, the Sea Spiral hosted tourists at Hampton Beach just north of the Ocean Boulevard’s busy section and south of Boar’s Head. The two original two-story buildings were built in 1920, parallel to each other, with a parking lot in between.
The Bolyea family owned the Sea Spiral starting in 1987, along with other hotels on the beach, including the Ships Inn. The Bolyeas invested $2.32 million in the hotel, including tearing down 10 cottages and replacing them with the building that now houses 21 suites.
The Bolyeas began selling their properties in the last several years, like the Kentville on the Ocean in 2019. Norm Bolyea said in January 2021 that he was tired and had enjoyed his time running hotels on the beach. He died in March of that year at age 81, and his family continued to sell their hotels, including the Sea Spiral and Ships Inn.
Bellemore purchased the Sea Spiral in May 2021 for $3 million, the property initially listed at $3.5 million. A Hampton property owner for more than four decades, Bellemore sold his “regular business” in 1999 to focus more on investing in the beach.
When Bellemore bought the Sea Spiral, he had just finished building 20 new modular apartments called the Beach View Oceanside Residences at 101 Ocean Blvd. in the heart of the tourist section. That project was a rebuild of a historic hotel he ran for 11 years called the Beach View Inn, which was demolished in 2015 after a fire.
Bellemore ran the Sea Spiral for its final summer as a hotel in 2021 while he began the approval process for his condo development. He said it took longer than expected due to changes in FEMA regulations shortly before he purchased the hotel.
Bellemore said the town granted him approval but then rescinded it to comply with the new FEMA regulations. He said FEMA wanted him to tear down the hotel and build a new structure on pilings.
“Which makes sense,” Bellemore said, “It just doesn’t make sense economically in all cases. In this case, it didn’t.”
Bellemore said he filed a lawsuit against the town in response. It led to no significant court battle, he said, as the parties came to an agreement that allowed the project to move forward.
“At the end of the day, we worked it out,” Bellemore said. “I got what I wanted at the end, and they came to an agreement.”
The condo units are almost all one-bedroom units, save for four studios. The units in the rear structure that once housed the 21 suites have both a view of the ocean and the marsh, which means both sunrise and sunset.
Beach business owners have discussed the need for a balance between year-round residences and hotels for tourists. Hotels, including those once owned by the Bolyea family, have been turned into condos.
Bellemore echoed what other developers have said about building hotels at the beach versus condos – the difference in the return on the investment is significant in today’s economy.
“You can’t buy them at today’s price and put up a hotel. You just can’t get the money,” Bellemore said. “That’s the problem.”
Bellemore said the new Ocean Mist condos are likely to draw a demographic that helps tourism. He said buyers will probably use their units as a second home where they enjoy the beach and its businesses, as well as invest in the units and rent them out to tourists. The units are between 460 and 550 square feet and come with one parking space.
“They’re smaller units. Not too many people, if any, are going to live here,” Bellemore said. “They’re condos, but there will be a lot of rentals.”
Rage, who also owns the Pelham Resort, said when the Sea Spiral went up for sale he hoped it would not be turned into condos because the beach needs more hotels. However, he said at a June 22 open house for the new condos he agreed with Bellemore that the Ocean Mist will draw people that visit beach businesses. He credited Bellemore with revitalizing another property on Ocean Boulevard.
“Chuck Bellemore does everything first class. He fixed the whole place up,” Rage said. “It’s another nice property.”
