Blatstein looking to buy, hold or demolish the old Trump Plaza? Some report that the Philly developer is in talks with investor Carl Icahn, owner of the shuttered casino next to Boardwalk Hall. Icahn also owns the Tropicana and the Taj.
Poorly promoted and horribly named says one retailer inside the quiet halls of the Playground shopping area.
Blatstein’s Playground launched with a roar, but has seen vacancy rates tick up over past few months. But The Plaza could be helpful to Bart, if that property could provide a walkway to connect Tangers Outlet to the Boardwalk and his tepid Playground. Plans have also hit bumps for Blatstein’s planned acquisition of city-owned properties along the Boardwalk, like Garden Pier. Liens against the City could be but one of the issues slowing things up for the principle of Tower Investments.
Another Florida developer to watch, besides ‘crazy like a fox’ Glenn Straub, is Miami based Bruce Kaye. He’s the CEO of Fantsea Resorts. Kaye currently owns three properties in the Atlantic City Area: Flagship along the inlet, Atlantic Palace on the Boardwalk, and La Sammana, across the bridge in Brigantine. FantaSea Resorts has been in Atlantic City for 25 years. Since 1992, Kaye’s properties include three resorts featuring 700+ units.
READER FEEDBACK
Eli Gero > Bart couldn’t even keep that WAV nightclub open
Craig Stone >I’m both intrigued and terrified by the thought of Blatstein buying Trump Plaza. On the one hand, YES someone finally do something with that thing. On the other hand, it needs to be gutted and totally redone, and so far Blatstein has barely even put a fresh coat of paint on the things he’s purchased before opening them.
Keith Rubin > To me it seemed like he was only interested in creating a walkway to his mall, along with a parking garage. Nothing hinted to me he was looking to open the plaza.
Randy Rabovsky > This guy has shown me absolutely nothing and the state of AC just continues to decline with no end in sight. The Playground was a total disaster. AC has pretty much become a total joke. We used to make the 6 hour dive down every other month. We’ve been to AC just once this year. It’s just not worth it anymore especially when we can fly out to Vegas for a couple hundred bucks more.