Atlantic City’s Playground entertainment complex is hoping that pop-up leases will help fill its retail space.
Developer Bart Blatstein hopes the leases will help fill about a dozen storefronts. Pop-up leases are short-term leases designed for innovative retailers. Blatstein said they are intended to give smaller retailers a chance to “take their shot” at space they normally could not afford, according to Philly.com.
“Pop-ups are done in Manhattan and New York all the time,” Blatstein, CEO of Tower Investments Inc. told the website. “Retailers have been doing them in the malls, and chains have been doing them to test new ways of doing things with retail.
“It’s not just the large companies doing them, but also small businesses and start-ups to take their shot without costing an arm and a leg and a major commitment,” he said. “We did them at Northern Liberties and it worked well. It keeps it fresh and changing.”
Blatstein has owned the Playground for a year after acquiring it from Caesars Entertainment Inc. for $2.5 million last April. Since then the site has undergoing a $50 million renovation.
Blatstein has opened T Street at the site, featuring bars and restaurants, and a new nightclub, Wav has just opened at the site.
Blatstein told Philly.com that the site has gone from 40 percent occupancy to over 75 percent and is shooting for 100 percent occupancy by year’s end. Blatstein also said the site has been turning a profit.
Non casino entertainment developments like The Playground are seen as vital for Atlantic City as it tries to diversify its attractions in the face of increasing casino competition in the Northeast.
