If you just happen to win Saturday’s Powerball drawing, or have a spare $1 million laying around, now’s your chance to get in on some rare undeveloped property - just steps from the Jersey Shore.  

Bradley Beach will auction off four lots at the site of the former First Methodist Church.  

“It’s going to be bloody. Sharks infested it’s going to be a bloody auction I'll tell you that much!,” said Bob Gebo, who was visiting Bradley Beach from Connecticut.  

Get your bids ready and prepare for battle. Four of the most sought-after parcels of open land on LaReine Avenue in Bradley Beach are about to go to public auction. 

“It’s really difficult to find an open cleared lot. We have seen people purchasing homes and demolishing them to start over,” said Jane DeNoble, the Bradley Beach Borough council president.  

After sitting empty for nearly a decade, the town purchased the First Methodist Church. But after a public referendum failed to get the votes needed to renovate the building, it met its fate earlier this summer.  Left behind, three lots at 5,000 square feet, with starting bids at $800,000, and the largest lot, 7,500 square feet – will open at $1,000,000.  

Town leaders say they know of only four other single-family homes for sale in all of Bradley Beach. Because of the rarity of available land, they are expecting an absolute massive turnout come auction night. 

“I guess I better buy my Powerball ticket,” said Cherly Bosley, visiting from the Poconos.  

“Yeah, I’d pay it if I hit the lotto sure I’d get in line. How high would I go? How high is the lotto?,” said Marie O’Connell, of Connecticut.  

“The value can only go up? Yeah, and you’d have it for generations and want to keep it in the family,” said Brian Bosley, also visiting Bradley Beach from the Pocono Mountains.  

The auction on this land is scheduled to be held in person at town hall on Tuesday Sept. 16 at 6 p.m.  

“These things can bid out very quickly and that’s the best way to liquidate borough property is in an open honest transparent public bid,” said Thomas J. Coan, the Land Use Board chairman for Bradley Beach.  

For more information on the upcoming land auction in Bradley Beach, visit this link:  

https://www.bradleybeachnj.gov/319-lareine-ave-lot-auction-info/