Stockton announces Showboat has sold

Stockton University confirmed Wednesday it has a buyer for the Showboat Casino, although it has yet to disclose other key details about the sale.

The Press of Atlantic City reports the university's trustees made the announcement, which included comments from the school's interim president Harvey Kesselman indicating the sale is expected to close around Nov. 9.

    “This is not a done deal yet,” he said. “But as of Friday, the bleeding will have stopped.”

Kesselman did not name the buyer or the sale price, but earlier this week reports indicated Philadelphia-based developer Bart Blatstein planned to purchase the shuttered Showboat.

The interim president, who university trustees want to take on the role permanently, did say the buyer is someone committed to the city, according to the Press of AC.

The remark points to Blatstein since he is already a property owner in Atlantic City, opening the first phase of his redevelopment of the Pier Shops at Caesars this past summer. His firm, Tower Investments, bought the retail property from CBRE for about $2.7 million last fall.

The sale would bring relief to Stockton, which bought Showboat for $18 million in December and began seeking a buyer almost immediately. The college wanted to turn the site into a satellite campus, but use covenants on the property prevented the school from moving forward with its plans.

A report released earlier this week placed much of the blame for the purchase on Stockton's former president, Herman Saatkamp, claiming he was eager to finalize the deal and did not provide trustees with information on the covenants. The report, a result of a $350,000 investigation, also pointed at Stockton's legal counsel for not properly vetting the purchase and Caesars for allegedly leading the school's trustees to believe Trump Entertainment would waive a covenant mandating the property must be used as a casino.

Blatstein previously showed interest in owning a casino when he vied for Philadelphia's second license to operate a casino. He planned to convert a North Broad Street property, the former home of the Philadelphia Inquirer, into a casino, but his pitch lost out to Cordish Cos.' and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment's plan to construct Live! Hotel and Casino in South Philly. He initially appealed the decision, only to withdraw the motion in January.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal