Atlantic City's long-talked about and first and only polercoaster is getting closer
to being realized.
Wallack Holdings in August 2015 signed the lease for a one-acre pad of land
on the 18-acre site of the former Sands Atlantic City casino-hotel with the
goal of 350-foot polercoaster and drop tower hybrid attraction in the Shore
town.
The project, which was approved by the Casino
Reinvestment Development Authority in December 2015, has received a $38.4 million grant from the New
Jersey Economic Development Authority, reports the Press of Atlantic City.
The cost of the entire project is about $138 million, and
the $38.4 million by the New Jersey EDA will be paid in sales tax rebates,
according to Joshua Wallack.
ACB Ownership is the developer of the polercoaster; it's
a subsidiary of Wallack Holdings.
The mega-coaster attraction could be a huge boon for
Atlantic City, which over the past few years has been trying to reinvent itself
and focus more on non-gaming amenities.
The Press of AC reports the polercoaster would be
completed by summer 2019. Wallack told the Business Journal, "once we get
everything lined up, then we can put together our schedule and actually have
some kind of hard date."
"It would have to be done the right way,"
Wallack said.
The CRDA in March this year approved plans for a chunk of land that
sits near the future polercoaster site to allow even more uses. The site could
also include a wave pool, zipline, laser maze and other family-friendly rides,
plus some retail and dining space.
Since 2015, when the Philadelphia Business Journal first
reported on the polercoaster, many non-gaming amenities have come to Atlantic
City:
Hard Rock, Atlantic City and state officials earlier this
month announced the $375 million changes planned to turn the
empty Taj Mahal property into Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
The vacant Atlantic Club, one of several casinos to
shutter beginning in 2014, recently sold and a family-friendly indoor water park and
entertainment center is set to go in its place.
The Jose Garces-led restaurants at the Tropicana Atlantic
City opened last month.
The developer of what was once known as the Pizza at
Schmidt's in Northern Liberties, Bart Blatstein, is buying up more land, and his reopening of the Showboat Hotel is set for
this July.
The polercoaster would be in line with that.
"Hard Rock is going all in on the Taj. There are
some naysayers on that, but you have a company like Hard Rock that's loaded
with cash. If they bring some great concerts and events, half of New York City
will come," Wallack said.
"That’s what we want," Wallack said. "When
they come, what’s there? A polercoaster. There’s going to be all kinds of new
developments going on, and it’ll be different from what people remember."
The "confluence" of all developments taking
place in Atlantic City now is what it takes to "reinvigorate" the
troubled Shore town, Wallack added.
"Is it going to take time? It's going to take time.
Is it going to take money? It'll take a fortune," Wallack said. "It
will happen, and it is happening."
A focus on non-gaming amenities to gain a foothold is
important for Atlantic City, particularly since the gamblers don't typically
have a preference on which property they patronize since "gaming is
gaming," said Paul Debole, assistant professor of political science at
Lasell College in Massachusetts, said in an earlier interview.
These non-gaming amenities provide incentive to travel to
Atlantic City.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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