Atlantic City pier sale, Gambling may return to Showboat

A Philadelphia developer bought an Atlantic City shopping and entertainment pier from Caesars Entertainment 5 years back. He’s now selling it back to them so he can focus on his plan to restore gambling to the former Showboat casino.

On Tuesday, Bart Blatstein told The Associated Press he has sold the Playground pier complex to a subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment, without revealing the sale price.

Blatstein said. “I’m very happy because I’m completely focused on the Showboat. Now there’s no distraction from what I’m going to do at Showboat. More than ever, I am extremely bullish on Atlantic City.”

Blatstein did not reveal the details of his plans for the Showboat, saying he would have an announcement in the not-too-distant future of a “very significant development” there.

Last March, he said he was proceeding with a plan to return casino gambling to the Showboat, which was one of four Atlantic City casinos that closed in 2014. Blatstein received approval from the state Casino Control Commission to pursue a casino license, and he said at the time he believes the market can accommodate another casino.

If he succeeds in restoring gambling there, the Showboat would be Atlantic City’s 10th casino. 2 others that also closed in 2014 – Revel and the Trump Taj Mahal were resurrected in 2018 under new brands, Revel became the Ocean Casino Resort, and the Taj Mahal became Hard Rock.

The 4th casino, the Atlantic Club, was sold last year to a New York firm that plans to turn it into a non-gambling hotel.

Re-expanding the Atlantic City casino market to 10 establishments would continue a trend of added gambling revenue and employment. However, it is also likely to dilute the already-low revenues of the city’s casinos further.

Blatstein bought The Pier Shops at Caesars for $2.7 million from Caesars Entertainment and reopened it as The Playground in June 2015. He said he invested $52 million in its renovation in the hope of reviving the prime but underutilized property on Atlantic City’s Boardwalk. Caesars retained ownership of the pier.

That dream was not fully met. Blatstein added nightlife options and some retail outlets, but customers fell. Stores like Apple store, Tommy Bahama and Gucci are gone. Parts of the proposal that never materialized included an elevated pool above the ocean.

Absence of affordable and accessible parking was one of many factors that held back The Playground and sunk The Pier Shops.

Caesars Entertainment is going through turbulence of its own. The company is under the process of being acquired by Eldorado Gaming, with regulators in multiple states as well as the Federal Trade Commission overseeing the deal.