ATLANTIC CITY — A Pennsylvania real estate company that
specializes in residential projects and senior-citizen housing has agreed to
buy the shuttered Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, newly filed property records
show.
The purchase by an affiliate of Endeavor Property Group
LLC continues a revolving door of ownership at the Atlantic Club since the
former Boardwalk casino closed Jan. 13, 2014, amid Atlantic City’s economic
crisis.
Endeavor, of Devon, Pennsylvania, is buying the complex
from TJM Properties Inc. for an undisclosed price. Neither company commented
Tuesday on the transaction, which was disclosed in an agreement of sale filed Dec.
29 with the Atlantic County Clerk’s Office. Once the sale closes, a deed will
be filed giving the price.
Atlantic Club is under a deed restriction barring it from
being used as a casino again. Endeavor’s experience as a housing developer
suggests the Atlantic Club’s 800-room hotel tower could be resurrected as a
residential complex. The company’s website says Endeavor’s portfolio includes
eight mixed-use residential projects, including senior-citizen housing,
totaling more than 1,500 units in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
One tourism analyst at The Richard Stockton College of
New Jersey believes the Atlantic Club could be transformed into a residential
development catering to senior citizens or people looking for a seashore
vacation retreat.
“From the beginning, I saw it as an opportunity to cater
to retirees or second-home buyers who would love to be at the Jersey Shore. I
think senior housing is exactly what the doctor ordered,” said Israel Posner,
executive director of Stockton’s Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming,
Hospitality and Tourism.
Posner said Atlantic Club’s location would allow senior
citizens or other people living there to take advantage of the amenities at the
nearby Tropicana Casino and Resort. Tropicana includes The Quarter, an upscale
retail, dining and entertainment complex.
“The Quarter has a lot of entertainment. The Quarter has
transformed the Tropicana into an entertainment destination. That could be a
big attraction for people living at the Atlantic Club,” Posner said.
But for now, the Atlantic Club remains an empty hulk
overlooking the southern end of the Boardwalk. Formerly one of Atlantic City’s
smaller casinos, it had a hard time competing against its larger rivals and
suffered millions of dollars in losses before it went out of business. Atlantic
Club’s shutdown began a succession of casino closings in 2014 that also
included Showboat, Revel and Trump Plaza.
TJM Properties, based in Clearwater, Florida, bought the
Atlantic Club in May for $13.5 million from an affiliate of casino giant
Caesars Entertainment Corp. Caesars and fellow casino company Tropicana
Entertainment Inc. paid a combined $23.4 million to acquire the Atlantic Club
in a bankruptcy sale in December 2013. Caesars took possession of the property
and buildings for $15 million, while Tropicana bought the Atlantic Club’s slot
machines and table games for $8.4 million.
Neither Caesars nor Tropicana had any interest in
operating the Atlantic Club as a casino hotel in Atlantic City’s struggling
gambling market. The casino’s closing threw 1,600 employees out of work.
Caesars slapped a deed restriction on the property that
prohibits any new owners from operating the Atlantic Club as a casino again. As
the most recent owner, TJM has kept the building in mothballs while it shopped
it to prospective buyers.
TJM, an acronym for company principal Terence J.
McCarthy, has instead concentrated on its redevelopment of the former Claridge
Casino Hotel. TJM acquired the Claridge from Caesars for $12.5 million in
February and renovated it into a boutique noncasino hotel.
Atlantic Club now seems poised to join the Claridge and
Showboat as former casinos reborn for another use. Stockton recently bought the
Showboat for $18 million and will repurpose it into a new Atlantic City campus.
The college also plans to run a hotel at Showboat, in addition to using it as
an academic setting.
Atlantic Club timeline
Dec.
9, 1980:
Atlantic Club opens as the Golden Nugget, owned by Steve Wynn.
March
1, 1987:
Mirage Resorts Inc. sells Golden Nugget to Bally Manufacturing Corp. for $440
million. The property goes through a series of name changes, including Bally’s
Grand and The Grand.
Dec.
18, 1996:
Hilton Hotels Corp. buys what was then called Bally Entertainment Corp. for $3
billion in stock and debt and immediately changes the casino’s name to Hilton.
August
1997: The
casino opens a $50 million expansion, including a 300-room tower.
Dec.
31, 1998:
Hilton spins off its gaming division into Park Place Entertainment.
July
15, 2004:
Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. agrees to buy Hilton owner Caesars Entertainment
Inc. in a proposed $9.4 billion deal.
Sept.
1, 2004:
Harrah’s and Caesars, to satisfy regulators ahead of their merger, put Hilton
and three other casino hotels up for sale and begin talks with eventual buyer
Colony Capital, which owns Resorts Atlantic City.
April
27, 2005:
The Hilton is sold to Colony Capital affiliate Resorts International Holdings
LLC in a $1.24 billion deal involving four casinos in Atlantic City; Tunica,
Mississippi; and East Chicago, Indiana. The Hilton is valued at $513 million.
July
9, 2009:
Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort fails to make a mortgage payment, citing the
“severe impact of the current economic conditions.”
June
2011: The
casino changes its name to ACH after losing the right to use the Hilton name.
Feb.
7, 2012: ACH
changes its name again, to the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, and rebrands itself
as a locals’ casino.
Jan.
15, 2013:
Rational Group, parent company of online gambling giants PokerStars and Full
Tilt Poker, announces an agreement to buy the Atlantic Club.
March
4, 2013: The
American Gaming Association calls for regulators to bar Rational Group from
operating in Atlantic City, accusing the company of deceit, trickery and other
illegal tactics.
May
1, 2013:
Atlantic Club announces that the deal with PokerStars has been terminated.
May
6, 2013:
PokerStars files a lawsuit to save the deal for $15 million, saying it already
paid more than $11 million toward the purchase.
July
17, 2013:
Rational Group informs regulators of its plan to abandon attempts to buy
Atlantic Club.
Nov.
7, 2013:
Atlantic Club announces that it has filed for bankruptcy protection.
December
2013:
Atlantic Club lists assets of $17.8 million against liabilities of $16.8
million prior to auction.
Dec.
20, 2013:
Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. and Tropicana Atlantic City Corp. agree to
buy and close the Atlantic Club, with Caesars acquiring the 801-room hotel and
fittings for $15 million and Tropicana buying the customer data and gambling
equipment for $8.4 million.
Dec.
23, 2013: A
federal judge approves the sale of the Atlantic Club for $23.4 million. Caesars
Entertainment Corp. will take the building, and Tropicana Entertainment Inc.
will take the gaming equipment and a players’ database.
Jan.
13, 2014:
The Atlantic Club closes.
May
2014: TJM
Properties of Clearwater, Florida, purchases the Atlantic Club for $13.5
million from Caesars and Tropicana.
Dec.
29, 2014: An
agreement is filed for TJM to sell the Atlantic Club to an affiliate of
Endeavor Property Group of Devon, Pennsylvania.
Source: Press
of Atlantic City
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