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23 min ago

Two York Beach hotels, undeveloped lot all going to foreclosure auctions

Hotel buildings and an old car. Photo / COURTESY, READ MCKENDREE A multimillion-dollar renovation of the York Beach Surf Club honored the legacy of a local surfing icon.
By Laurie Schreiber

Two years after its multimillion-dollar restoration, a hotel designed to evoke 1960s York Beach surf culture is going up for auction next month, along with another hotel and an undeveloped lot nearby.

The York Beach Surf Club is a 52-unit boutique hotel complex with ocean views on 3.17 acres at 780 York St. in York Beach.

Half a mile down the beach, the Sea Latch Inn is an 82-room lodging complex on 2 acres at 277 Long Beach Ave. 

Neighboring the Sea Latch, a 2.55-acre development parcel is at 11 Webber Road.

The foreclosure auctions for the three properties, by Keenan Auction Co. in Portland, are scheduled for Oct. 17.

York Street and Long Beach Avenue are the local names for Route 1A.

Surfing culture

The York Beach Surf Club was designed to evoke a surfing culture embodied by L.F. “Sonny” Perkins, said to be the first surfer in Maine with a fiberglass surfboard and who brought together friends in the 1960s for surfing contests along the East Coast.

A lobby includes a surfboard.
Photo / COURTESY, READ MCKENDREE
Fit-up at the York Beach Surf Club included surfboards around the check-in desk.

In 2020, Sonny’s son, Taylor Perkins, bought the York Harbor Motel at 780 York St. 

Based in York, Taylor Perkins has been a real estate developer for over 20 years, across multifamily, hospitality and commercial developments. He founded the Surf Co. as a holding company for his coastal real estate holdings, which includes the Sea Latch Inn.

Perkins undertook a multimillion-dollar restoration of the York Harbor Motel. The Surf Co. drew up the design, which included the addition of a heated saltwater pool and pool bar, food and beverage program, and renovated buildings and bungalows. Perkins renamed the motel as the York Beach Surf Club to honor the legacy of his father and the local coalition of surfers.

The buildings underwent a Scandinavian-style redesign. A 1964 International Harvester milk truck was restored to serve as an outdoor bar. 

Room features included custom furniture designed by the Surf Co. Other design features include natural wood bands around building perimeters, designed to evoke stringers in a surfboard. Longboards dating back to the 1960s, surfed by the founding members of the York Beach Surf Club, are displayed around the check-in desk. 

An aerial view of hotel buildings by the beach.
Photo / Courtesy Keenan Auction Co.
The York Beach Surf Club is a 52-unit boutique hotel complex with ocean views on 3.17 acres at 780 York St. in York Beach.

Built in 1950, the motel’s renovations, construction and rebranding, completed in 2022, created some of the newest inventory of rooms and amenities in York and on Long Sands Beach, according to the auction listing.

There are 42 interior and exterior corridor accommodations and 10 bungalows. Amenities include ocean access across the street, a saltwater pool complex with sunning decks, a pool house and a modular kitchen.

The personal property, food service equipment, furnishings and electronics will be sold together with the real estate as an entirety.

Sea Latch Inn

Sea Latch Inn, built in 1960, is also across from Long Sands Beach.

The 82-unit hotel complex comprises one-, two- and three-story buildings and six individual cottages. The property — near the village of York Harbor, shops, restaurants, Cape Neddick and the Nubble Lighthouse — underwent renovation in 2014, according to the listing. 

An aerial view of hotels by the beach.
Photo / Courtesy Keenan Auction Co.
The Sea Latch Inn, in foreground, is an 82-room lodging complex on 2 acres at 277 Long Beach Ave.

Guest rooms include a 36-room three-story interior corridor building, 26-room two-story exterior corridor building, a 10-room single-story exterior corridor building, two 4-unit buildings, two two-unit buildings and six cottages. 

On its website, the Sea Latch, started by Bob and Peggy Poulin, is marketed as hosting “generations of families,” with the original main house built for family and guests, and cabins for employees. The Perkins family bought the property from the Poulin family.

Zoning for the abutting 2.55-acre development parcel allows for single-family, two-family and multifamily housing, hotels, motels, restaurants and public uses.

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