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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The $23 million sale of Atlantic City's former Showboat casino to Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein was completed Friday.
But the new owner still has not decided whether to reopen it as a casino. Blatstein said he is considering a casino there, but added that nongambling options including office space and entertainment uses would work well at the building.
He is known for several development projects in Philadelphia, as well as the transformation of Atlantic City's Pier Shops into The Playground complex.
"It's great to be part of the new Atlantic City," he said. "It's a great, storied property."
Blatstein bought the Showboat from Stockton University. The college had bought it from Caesars Entertainment for $18 million in December 2014, hoping to convert it into a satellite campus. But competing legal restrictions on how the property could be used scuttled that plan.
"The university is fortunate to have worked with someone with a strong record of successful development and a commitment to Atlantic City, which is important to Stockton," said Stockton President Harvey Kesselman "It has been a pleasure to work with Bart Blatstein on this successful sale. Stockton will collaborate with Mr. Blatstein in ways that will contribute to the renaissance of Atlantic City."
Still to be unraveled are the competing deed restrictions. One, placed by Caesars Entertainment, prohibited the property from ever again being used as a casino. But there also was a 1988 legal covenant among the Showboat, the Trump Taj Mahal and Resorts casinos requiring the Showboat never be used for anything other than a casino.
Stockton did not get the 1988 covenant resolved before buying the Showboat, and Taj Mahal owner Trump Entertainment Resorts refused to waive it, fearing that underage college students next door would sneak into the Taj Mahal to drink and gamble, exposing the casino to costly fines.
A bill pending in the Legislature would remove the deed restrictions from the Showboat and any other publicly owned facility located within Atlantic City's tourism district.
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