Philadelphia-based developer Bart Blatstein continues to invest in Atlantic City, adding another about million in property to his Showboat hotel.
Blatstein has re-opened the former casino as a non-casino hotel. He has just purchased three nearby parcels from Atlantic City on the resort’s Boardwalk for $6 million.
Blatstein’s Tower Investments purchased the resort’s Garden Pier and a 3.8-acre volleyball court between Showboat and the former Revel casino, city officials said. According to the Press of Atlantic City, Blatstein bought the former volleyball court for $3.8 million, Garden Pier for $1.5 million and several Southeast Inlet lots bordered by Oriental Avenue and Dewey Place for $660,000
“It shows my continuing confidence in the renaissance of Atlantic City,” Blatstein told the Associated Press. “It’s a great opportunity to expand the holding. It affords even more of an outdoor element for the Showboat, and the land near the Inlet is wonderful land abutting a new $40 million Boardwalk. It’s beautiful real estate.”
Blatstein said he’s still working on an overall concept for the Showboat and did not say what he plans to do with the land. However, in 2015, Tower proposed a “multifaceted entertainment destination with art, music and food” for Garden Pier. The group has also proposed a $40 million “multi-use event center” that will be part of Showboat, for the volleyball court, according to the Press.
City officials praised the deals, which brings some much-needed revenue to the financially strapped city.
In another bit of redevelopment news, other private developers announced plans to revitalize the resorts Tennessee Avenue between the Boardwalk and Pacific Avenue.
The Tennessee Avenue Transformation is headed by Alpha Funding Solutions CEO Mark Callazzo and Authentic City Partners’ Evan Sanchez, according to the Press of Atlantic City. The development would feature restaurants, bars and stores.
The project right now consists of a coffee shop and bar the company is constructing, but the group hopes to attract tenants to other sites they own on the beach block.
“We’re going to make Tennessee Avenue into a pedestrian-only walkway on summer weekends from Memorial Day to Labor Day,” Sanchez said. “We want to infuse the street with a ton of energy and art from the asphalt up. We’re going to make it the home base for high quality markets with great crafts and food.”
The group said they chose the Tennessee Avenue beach block because it sits virtually empty at the moment.
