Atlantic City Seeks New Image: Las Vegas's

[Kris]

May 9, 2004

Atlantic City Seeks New Image: Las Vegas's

By IVER PETERSON

ATLANTIC CITY, May 6 - Atlantic City turns 150 this summer, and it's busy working up its next act.

It sold cool ocean breezes by day and bawdy entertainment at night back when cities on the East Coast had tight morals and no air-conditioning.

Then it sold gambling, when the only other legal gambling was some 2,000 miles away in Nevada.

And now, with gambling almost everywhere, and more on the way, the Atlantic City casinos and the New Jersey state government are spending close to $1 billion to remake the city into a glossy shopping, entertainment and - yes - gambling attraction, with Las Vegas as its model.

"We are going to make ourselves into the Queen City of the Atlantic again," said Curtis J. Bashaw, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which collects a 1.25 percent tax on casino revenue and puts it back into economic development projects in the city and elsewhere in the state.

The urgency is clear in the city's books: except for the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, which opened in July, the city's casino revenue is barely growing, as more and more gambling outlets open in a tightening ring around the shore. Delaware and West Virginia now have casinos; the two giant Indian casinos in Connecticut are attracting New Yorkers, and more may be on the way; Pennsylvania wants to install slot machines at horse tracks, including in Philadelphia, which is practically in Atlantic City's backyard. And Gov. George E. Pataki wants to open three half-billion-dollar Indian resort casinos in the Catskills, 30 miles closer to the heart of Manhattan than Atlantic City, which is 130 miles away.

According to an analysis by Harrah's 2003 Profile of the American Casino Gambler, more of the metropolitan Washington's 700,000 casino gamblers go to Delaware or West Virginia - places that did not have legal gambling 10 years ago - than come here. Baltimore and Philadelphia are sending a growing share of its gamblers someplace else. And even though the New York metropolitan region's 5 million regular gamblers still favor Atlantic City, 13 percent go to Connecticut, and more will head to the Catskills when the opportunity comes.

There is also a sense here, although no one says it out loud, that this town is not attracting enough of the right kind of people, which is to say people with time and money - the kind who fly to Las Vegas for a week of gambling, dining and shopping.

In fact, Atlantic City's businesses have complained about "shoobies," a derogatory reference to day trippers that dates back to an era when they carried their lunches in shoe boxes. The sense here is that the city has to keep people here for longer stays.

"We will wean ourselves from being the image of a day-trip destination to being a hot spot again," Mr. Bashaw said.

Although Atlantic City's 12 casinos take in about the same $4.5 billion a year in gambling that the 22 big hotels along the Vegas Strip do, they make only $300 million on nongambling attractions like shopping, dining and personal care spas. "And I think even that $300 million is exaggerated," said Dennis C. Gomes, head of the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City and president for resort operations at the Aztar Corporation, which owns the Tropicana here and the Tropicana in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas hotels make much more on nongambling operations, $9.5 billion last year, according to Frank Streshley of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, although that figure includes revenue from a 23rd casino.

No wonder, then, that the buzzword around here is "nongaming revenue." The Sands announced on Thursday that it had started planning for a hotel expansion, with more shopping and entertainment space. Caesars and Gordon Group Holdings are spending $150 million to gut the old Ocean One pier, which was, until recently, a dingy warren of cheap shops and restaurants across the Boardwalk from Caesars. They plan to put in a high-end shopping and dining attraction, with Gucci already signed as a tenant, and Polo and Tiffany among the others in lease negotiations, Mr. Bashaw said.

Sheldon Gordon, chairman of Gordon Group Holdings, bet his fortune to build the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The Roman-themed arcade has been wildly successful. The project in Atlantic City will be the Pier at Caesars, and its motto, "If you liked the desert, you'll love the ocean."

At the same time, Harrah's Atlantic City recently announced a new hotel and shopping tower project; Resorts Atlantic City is scheduled to open its new $125 million, 27-story hotel tower later this summer and is in discussions over more expansion; and Mr. Gomes's Tropicana will open its new shopping, dining and spa addition, designed to recall pre-Castro Havana and called The Quarter, this fall.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[Kris]

July 30, 2004

Encouraged by Earnings, Owners Plan to Expand Borgata

By RONALD SMOTHERS

The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa's gamble that there was an appetite in Atlantic City for something beyond games of chance has apparently paid off. The operators of the Borgata have announced a $200 million expansion of their Renaissance Pointe location that will add not only slots and table games, but also spa, restaurant, nightclub and high-end retail space.

The announcement was part of a second-quarter earnings report released Wednesday by the Boyd Gaming Group, a Las Vegas-based casino operator, which along with MGM-Mirage owns the $1.1 billion Borgata.

Company officials had seen the casino - with 2,002 hotel rooms as well as spas and upscale shops - as a destination resort of a type more common in Las Vegas. They had brashly predicted that it would prove so effective in attracting visitors to Atlantic City and drawing from other casinos that expansion was inevitable.

While the Borgata has been thriving, the dozen other casinos in the city have barely stayed even with 2002 figures for house winnings and player losses.

"Borgata has now operated for four quarters, and every quarter since its opening has been better than the quarter before," said William S. Boyd, chairman and chief executive officer of Boyd Gaming. "When we developed Borgata we knew were building the right product for Atlantic City and the Northeast gaming market, but it is exceeding our expectations both in how fast its revenues and earnings are ramping up and in how quickly we need to expand the property." Because the Borgata is a joint venture, there is no clear indication of how its success affected the company's quarterly reports.

Officials of the state's Casino Control Commission agreed that the Borgata's performance had shaken things up in Atlantic City, where no new casino had opened in 13 years. At least four other casinos have recently announced plans for new hotel rooms, retail areas and other nongambling operations, said Linda Kassekert, commission chairwoman.

"I think we are beginning to feel more like Las Vegas," Ms. Kassekert said.

Robert Boughner, the Borgata's chief executive, said the expansion would include a three-story addition with space for 600 new slot machines, bringing the casino's total to 4,100; 36 additional gambling tables; and 56 new poker tables. Off-track betting counter slots would be doubled to 90.

The plans call for two more restaurants, bringing the total to seven; one casual dining spot, bringing the total to eight; and a large food court. Two nightclubs would be housed in the addition, along with a half-dozen retail shops. Mr. Boughner said space would be added to a spa operation that has had eight-week waiting lists for weekend appointments for its $150 facials.

Construction is to begin in December, and completion is projected for 2006.

Mr. Boughner said that although hotel occupancy was in "the mid-90 percent range," the company had no plans to add more rooms. That would have to wait, he said, until "we are absolutely certain that the tax climate in Atlantic City and the state of New Jersey as a whole would warrant our expansion."

Casino Control Commission officials noted that Atlantic City is updating the calculation of casino property values for property tax purposes and that the Legislature has passed a bill repealing a state tax on free hotel and nongambling services casinos offered to high rollers, although Gov. James E. McGreevey has not yet signed it. Ms. Kassekert said she expected the governor to allow the bill repealing the tax to become law.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[microserf]

Attracting people w. time & money is right. I visited Atlantic City once back in the early 90's and was NOT impressed. It was a cold, grey, uninviting experience...

From my personal observations (having worked in LV for weeks at a time in the late 90's early 2000's) these were the attractions to LV, from both a young technology company professionals point of view, and watching my parents weeklong soiree/meeting just a few months ago...

For the young professional who does not gamble (well, black jack 'n the slots.. maybe 1 or 2 games at the sportsbetting area, thats about it):

1. Large conventions, Comdex (yes, cancelled, but it will be back, and better than ever!), CES, E3, Networld+Interop, etc.
2. Top end gentlemens clubs such as Olympic Gardens, more affectionately referred to as "the OG".
3. Grandiose vista view skyline of top class hotels & legendary show attractions from top name entertainment (tough to beat shows from Cirque du Soleil such as the O @ the Bellagio & Zumanity @ the New York, New York for the young, and top performers such as Celine Dion for the older crowd)
4. Geek factor impressives, such as Star Trek: The Experience, and now Borg 4D @ the Las Vegas Hilton.. I see ST:TE every time I goto LV, and have turned peeps on to it.. It's got a buzz so to speak.
5. "See it no where else" themes such as the Gondola ride @ the Venetian, the animatronics display @ Caesars Palace (Posiedon and his children), the pirate ship battle scene @ Treasure Island, the booming water show @ the Bellagio.. these are all legendary attractions... You don't see any press about anything Atlantic City has to offer in visual/visceral competition.
6. Top end shopping experiences, Amani Xchange comes to mind.
7. Known, "hot times for the young 'n the young at heart" hotel venues such as the Palms, and the Rio. Clubs such as the Drink, or Rain.
8. Legendary buffets, such as the seafood buffet at the Rio, and the everything under the sun w. top end choices buffet of the Bellagio..
9. Heck, they even have an incredible roller coaster just 45 mins away in Primm!
10. Incredible hotels, such as the Luxor's black pyramid, the green glow of the MGM Grande, the exciting rides atop the Stratosphere...

I could go on and on... Atlantic City really needs to "step up" on the national/international scale, if it wants to fend off all the indian gaming going on nipping at its heels. They have to stand out as an attraction in of itself, a place worth spending time & money in, a place worth making an effort to going to... beyond gaming, or they will always be a second hand/second best to Las Vegas. Atlantic City needs that WOWZA factor. Personally, when I think of Atlantic City, I think of that movie by the same name, and then I think of the phrase "mob ties".. as in NOT SAFE. Las Vegas has been able to shake that negative connotation, by sheer force of will, vast investments by the casinos... and of course, an excellently executed marketing plan... primetime television show tie-ins, prime-time sports tie ins w. the world series of poker, etc... strong marketing messages tied in w. the old saying by lifelong road warriors.. "what goes on on the road, stays on the road"... ;-)

Peace.

[Kris]

January 3, 2005

Seeking a New Look, Atlantic City Turns to Its History

By IVER PETERSON

ATLANTIC CITY, Dec. 29 - Atlantic City has finally found something about Las Vegas that it doesn't want to copy: the way it looks.

When Las Vegas casino operators decided that their business should be more family-friendly, Atlantic City leaders started talking about roller rinks and other family attractions. When Las Vegas started making more money from dining, shopping and entertainment than from gambling, Atlantic City began pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the same ventures.

But as Las Vegas begins yet another round of glitter-and-kitsch construction along the Vegas Strip, the Atlantic City casinos have signed on to a retro approach: starting with the famous Boardwalk, revive a little of the Atlantic City of old, before all the casinos arrived.

"Whenever I visit the head of one of the casinos, their walls are covered with black and white pictures of Atlantic City in its heyday," said Curtis Bashaw, head of the state's Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. "It's like this place is haunted by the images of this city in its glory days."

Now his agency, which invests money raised by a casino tax into economic development projects in the city, is using the lure of low-interest financing to encourage casinos to embrace new design standards along the Boardwalk that evoke the look and scale of the city's original tourist hotels.

Under the new rules, if the operators of the nine casinos fronting the Boardwalk want to use the agency's money to renovate their properties, they will have to meet those standards. Showboat has already agreed to change the design for its new $70 million House of Blues nightclub, scheduled to open on the Boardwalk in July.

With Delaware drawing customers away with its racetrack and gambling parlors, Pennsylvania rushing to create dozens of slot parlors and New York State moving to build casinos closer to Manhattan, Atlantic City is looking for a way to give gamblers something different.

"With all the encroachment of gaming in the region, the operators are much more aware that Atlantic City has to be more than a bunch of slots parlors on the beach," said Mr. Bashaw, who is also a Cape May hotel operator. "They are much more aware of Atlantic City as a brand."

The old photographs that the casino operators cherish offer a study in contrasts. Immense buildings white as snow jut up from the Boardwalk today, most of them presenting sheer, blank walls to passers-by. But the old Boardwalk was lined with brick and stone hotels that had tiled arcades, windows that gave a view in and out, bits of green grass and, as the new standards put it, "active facades" - stores, entrances, windows and semipublic areas.

"By comparison," the development authority's analysis concluded, "most existing casino hotels have few entry points and many linear feet of inaccessible interior."

Several casinos, indeed, have one of the city's most puzzling architectural features - nooks designed to look like doors, with glass walls and awnings, that are not doors. Judging by the scene on Pacific Avenue, the first street back from the Boardwalk, many newcomers spend their first moments in town looking for entrances to the casinos.

The Boardwalk casinos look the way they do because they were built by Las Vegas casino operators, said Michael Calafati, a partner with Historic Building Architects, of Trenton, who created a design inventory of the Boardwalk and drew up the new guidelines.

"They took a model that worked very well in the desert of the Southwest and plopped down these big boxes on the Boardwalk," Mr. Calafati said. "Financially they were a success, but the image is really anemic compared to Atlantic City's heyday."

The loss of many of the old hotels and their friendly scale also occurred, Mr. Bashaw said, because of the shock New Jersey leaders felt when the national news media came to Atlantic City for the 1964 Democratic nominating convention, and reported to the nation that "America's Playground," as the city had styled itself, had become a slum.

"The feeling was, just tear it down," Mr. Bashaw said.

The new design rules are not intended to create a museum, only a more historically accurate cityscape along the Boardwalk, and one that is more inviting to strollers. "Back to a sense of the city that celebrated people-watching, and general pedestrian activities," Mr. Calafati said.

The first tangible step back to the Boardwalk design of old Atlantic City was taken when the Showboat agreed to meet the new standards by changing the design for the marquee and the entrance to the House of Blues.

"Our first design was very Las Vegas-like," said Dave Jonas, senior vice president for Atlantic City operations for Harrah's, which also runs the Showboat. "It was very modern, with very sharp angles and lots of stucco; it was kind of cold. Curtis asked us to make some changes, and we came up with a design that was more modern, with softer corners and natural stone. And instead of a wall, we're putting in windows, so we get light coming into the casino, and we make the entrance more inviting."

Farther "down beach" from the Showboat, Bernard E. DeLury Jr., executive vice president of Caesars Entertainment, is thinking about ways to apply the design guidelines for repair work on the Claridge hotel, a survivor from the city's golden age and part of Caesars' three Boardwalk properties.

"Instead of doing a slab dab paint job on the Claridge, we're thinking, lets move with a view toward preservation, of looking up there and seeing what's there - taking off encrustations that were added, but getting the same functionality - something that's closer to original design," he said.

Mr. DeLury says he also wishes he could open up the adjacent Dennis Hotel, another survivor, to the Boardwalk. But its inviting courtyard is blocked by an undistinguished two-story food and retail space whose owner is content to remain there.

It exemplifies one of the problems Mr. Bashaw faces in remaking the Boardwalk. However willing the casinos may be to put a new, old stamp on the Boardwalk, much of the frontage along it is taken up by a one- and two-story mishmash of three-for-$10 T-shirt joints, palmists, pizza-by-the-slice houses, fudge shops and other businesses that happen to be huge money makers.

With so much money already coming in, their owners appear content to stand pat, but Mr. Bashaw said he was patient.

"We're not saying this is compulsory," he said. "But if you want to use our money, you're going to have to do it the right way."

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

[TonyO]

Ch65 Time Warner (Nat'l Geographic) had a Megastructures episode on about the Borgata casino in AC. I found it interesting that Wynn was sold the property for $1.

[JCMAN320]

Atlantic City casino to add 800-room 'Water Club' tower in 2007

2/21/2006, 7:46 p.m. ET
By JOHN CURRAN
The Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is spreading the wealth.

The $1 billion casino, a huge hit with gamblers since its 2003 debut, will add an 800-room hotel tower next year in the second phase of an expansion project, the company announced Tuesday.

The $325 million addition, named The Water Club at Borgata, will also feature four pools, a two-story "spa in the sky," six retail shops and 18,000 square feet of meeting space in the glass hotel tower. Of the 800 guest rooms, 750 will be "classic," and there will be 20 suites and 15 two-bedroom suites, four of which will be corner suites with "media-rich mini theaters," the company said.

The 43-story building, which will look similar to Borgata's existing tower, will help the casino keep pace with runaway demand for its rooms, which have occupancy of 97 percent even in the market's traditionally slow winter months, said Larry Mullin, president and chief operating officer.

"It will be a more upscale experience than what we have now," said Mullin.

Like the Borgata, the expansion is a joint venture of Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage. The new tower is expected to open in late 2007.

"We conceived The Water Club as an exclusive extension to the sophisticated, international style that already defines Borgata," said Bob Boughner, the former Borgata CEO who oversaw design of the expansion. "Quietly cosmopolitan yet energized, The Water Club will be defined by clean, contemporary architecture."

Borgata, which opened in July 2003 as the first new casino in Atlantic City in 13 years, has been anything but quiet.

The 2,010-room casino has dramatically affected the Atlantic City market, drawing younger gamblers to town and luring older ones away from its competitors.

It has been the city's highest-grossing casino in all but one month since its opening, and its emphasis on table games, coinless slot machines and expensive name-brand restaurants has helped it dominate the market since the day it opened its doors.

The casino is already at work on the first phase of its expansion, which includes $200 million worth of new casino space, new restaurants and a poker room. Opening for that is scheduled for spring.

[JCMAN320]

My apologies on this being way late but thought worth noting:

Jay-Z Opens 40/40 Club in Atlantic City
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
By: Michael Ivey

Tuesday night marked the grand opening of Jay-Z’s second 40/40 spot, this one in Atlantic City. The club is located in front of Caesars Resorts, on the corner of Missouri and Atlantic Avenues. During a tour of the $3.5 million, 15,000 sq. ft. sports bar Jay admitted it was even more imposing than he expected.

The 40/40 Club is equipped with many television screens showing sports events, a theme important to it’s naming according to Jay. “It [40/40] is actually the most exclusive sports club in baseball cause it combines power and speed. There is only three members, A-Rod, Barry Bonds, and Jose Canseco.” An ESPN Hall of Fame room for about 100 guests, and an A-Rod room, which holds 50 people, can be rented for $3,000 and $1,500 a night respectively. A-Rod and P. Diddy were among those at the grand opening Tuesday night. Jay actually declined on establishing a 40/40 club in LA because he feels AC will “be pretty comparable to Vegas” due to new developments.

Jay-Z is also very is fond of New Jersey: “it’s like an extended home for me…I stayed in Trenton for a while. And Philly’s like my second home.” Jay says he wants an atmosphere that’s “relaxed and you know cool, people saying what’s up to each other, having fun with each other.” By the way, no jerseys or sneakers allowed in the 40/40 club.

[lofter1]

Atlantic City thread gets less than 10 posts in almost 2 years!

Shows that AC doesn't hold much mystery or intrigue ...

[ablarc]

^ Place is a mess.

[stache]

Surrounded by a giant ghetto.

[ablarc]

You'd think all the sleaze squeezed out of Times Square would have relocated here, maybe just off the Boardwalk. Is it zoned out?

[JCMAN320]

I think personally this is the beginning of it's finest hour.

[Dagrecco82]

Atlantic City casino to add 800-room 'Water Club' tower in 2007


By JOHN CURRAN
The Associated Press
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is spreading the wealth.
The $1 billion casino, a huge hit with gamblers since its 2003 debut, will add an 800-room hotel tower next year in the second phase of an expansion project, the company announced Tuesday.
The $325 million addition, named The Water Club at Borgata, will also feature four pools, a two-story "spa in the sky," six retail shops and 18,000 square feet of meeting space in the glass hotel tower. Of the 800 guest rooms, 750 will be "classic," and there will be 20 suites and 15 two-bedroom suites, four of which will be corner suites with "media-rich mini theaters," the company said.
The 43-story building, which will look similar to Borgata's existing tower, will help the casino keep pace with runaway demand for its rooms, which have occupancy of 97 percent even in the market's traditionally slow winter months, said Larry Mullin, president and chief operating officer.
"It will be a more upscale experience than what we have now," said Mullin.
Like the Borgata, the expansion is a joint venture of Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage. The new tower is expected to open in late 2007.
We conceived The Water Club as an exclusive extension to the sophisticated, international style that already defines Borgata," said Bob Boughner, the former Borgata CEO who oversaw design of the expansion. "Quietly cosmopolitan yet energized, The Water Club will be defined by clean, contemporary architecture."
Borgata, which opened in July 2003 as the first new casino in Atlantic City in 13 years, has been anything but quiet. The 2,010-room casino has dramatically affected the Atlantic City market, drawing younger gamblers to town and luring older ones away from its competitors.
It has been the city's highest-grossing casino in all but one month since its opening, and its emphasis on table games, coinless slot machines and expensive name-brand restaurants has helped it dominate the market since the day it opened its doors.
The casino is already at work on the first phase of its expansion, which includes $200 million worth of new casino space, new restaurants and a poker room. Opening for that is scheduled for spring.

[MidtownGuy]

Hmmm, all this sounds great. I've never been to AC, but if they keep it up I might have to pay a visit.

[lofter1]

Seems by your reaction that the new offical New Jersey State Slogan is working:

January 12, 2006

http://www.state.nj.us/slogan/

The new slogan for New Jersey has been chosen by the people of the state. Over 11,000 people voted by phone and on the internet. The final tally was close, but we have a clear winner.

The winning slogan is:

"New Jersey, Come See For Yourself"

and was first submitted to us by Jeffrey Antman of Passaic, New Jersey.

Thank you to all who contributed ideas and took the time to vote - I am proud to be the Governor of a State whose residents came forward with thousands of ways to tell the world that New Jersey is a wonderful place to live, work and play.

With regards,
http://www.state.nj.us/slogan/images/slogan_signature.gif
Acting Governor

[Fabrizio]

Midtown:

"Hmmm, all this sounds great. I've never been to AC, but if they keep it up I might have to pay a visit."

It´s a hell hole. The Borgata ( and etc.) is nice because it´s a self contained "environment"...you could be anywhere.

Out on the streets it´s a completely different scene...largely a slum... Camden-by-the-sea. The boardwalk is about as charming as 14th street circa 1978.

[Kris]

June 20, 2006
Atlantic City and Rail Line Agree to Offer Direct Service
By RONALD SMOTHERS

NEWARK, June 19 — Three Atlantic City casinos have agreed to finance direct weekend train service to and from New York City's Pennsylvania Station in a bid to win new customers.

The deal was approved on Monday when New Jersey Transit, the state-run commuter rail line, agreed to operate the service, which was scheduled to start in 2007. The three casinos, Borgata, Caesars and Harrah's, will put up $15 million to buy eight new double-decker rail cars and provide $4 million a year to pay the annual operating costs for a three-year demonstration period.

An additional $4.5 million will come from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, a state agency financed by 12 casinos in the city, to lease diesel engines from Amtrak for the initial three years.

Auggie Cipollini, senior vice president and chief administrative officer of the Borgata, said "this is all of a piece" with an array of other marketing moves by the industry to increase or at least hold the line on revenues. Those moves have included increasing the number of hotel rooms, broadening entertainment and restaurant offerings, and welcoming new retail outlets. In 2005, the casinos generated $5.018 billion in revenue.

For New Jersey Transit, the nation's third-largest publicly operated commuter rail operation, participating in the experiment was an easy decision, officials there said.

"Anytime we can increase service without having to invest the money ourselves is a plus," said Kris Kolluri, the state transportation commissioner and chairman of the transit agency's board. "The casinos have done marketing studies to show that this will be profitable, and the good news for us is that it is entirely financed by them."

The ticket price for the 2 ½-hour train ride has not been determined, Mr. Cipollini said. One-way bus tickets from New York to Atlantic City are about $30 for the 2 ½-hour journey. Travelers can also get there by taking a one-way Amtrak train from Penn Station to Philadelphia at a cost of $42 to $64, and then switching to New Jersey Transit's $7.25 one-way service to Atlantic City.

Dan Dressel, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit, said casino operators were hoping to come up with a competitive price for the service.

The plan calls for running 18 weekend trains to and from Atlantic City equipped for dining and drinking. The service is expected to provide round-trip transportation for approximately 1,100 people each weekend, the officials said.

While each casino will have a block of tickets for its customers, at least 25 percent of the tickets must be available to the public because of the financing from the casino reinvestment agency, which has helped pay for housing, roads, health centers and hotel expansions that are deemed to benefit Atlantic City and the gambling industry.

Mr. Cipollini said the casinos providing the bulk of the financial support would most likely use the rail service in "a lot of good marketing packages" aimed at higher-end gambling and nongambling customers.

"I think it is great for us to be in the railroad business," he said.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

[stache]

You can get halfway there (Bay Head) for $20 R/T on NJT. Or you can take NJT via the Riverline and PATCO for around $30 R/T, but it would probably take longer than three hours. I'm curious to see which route the trains will take.

[Bob]

One way to encourage tourism to Atlantic City is to upgrade the Expressway and the Garden State to autobahn-spec, and to post higher speed limits (75+). This will cut down the travel time from both NYC and Philadelphia. 65 is ok, but it still leaves too many opportunities for the NJSP to nab people doing 70. Who needs the hassle of Atlantic City, when they can hop a cheap flight to Las Vegas and take a shuttle to their favorite casinos?

[ablarc]

The ticket price for the 2 ½-hour train ride has not been determined, Mr. Cipollini said. One-way bus tickets from New York to Atlantic City are about $30 for the 2 ½-hour journey.
Why is the train as slow as the bus?

Are freight trains going to bollox this service too?

Dan Dressel, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit, said casino operators were hoping to come up with a competitive price for the service.
Good for them. How about free with documentary evidence of casino gaming?

The plan calls for running 18 weekend trains to and from Atlantic City equipped for dining and drinking.
That's the idea.

Will there be strippers?

[pianoman11686]

The train from my town to Penn (50 miles) is slower than the bus ride to Port Authority. NJ Transit sucks.

[NYatKNIGHT]

One way to encourage tourism to Atlantic City is to upgrade the Expressway and the Garden State to autobahn-spec, and to post higher speed limits (75+). This will cut down the travel time from both NYC and Philadelphia. 65 is ok, but it still leaves too many opportunities for the NJSP to nab people doing 70. Who needs the hassle of Atlantic City, when they can hop a cheap flight to Las Vegas and take a shuttle to their favorite casinos?I can't believe posting speeds 10 m.p.h. more would make a difference whether people go or don't go to A.C. Besides, everyone is going 75-85 anyway. I also don't see how a 2.5 hour train ride is a "hassle" as opposed to the 4.5 hour flight out to Vegas and dealing with getting to and from two airports.

On the other hand, even if it takes the same amount of time, a train could make a big difference: no driving, no speeding tickets, no parking, NO TRAFFIC JAMS, and partying on the train! I completely agree that it is ridiculous that it doesn't go faster than the bus with only one stop in Newark, but this is very good news for Atlantic City and mass transit users. It's about time, I bet it will be popular.

[Fabrizio]

My hunch is that they´ll use the tracks that are already in place between AC and NY. They probably can´t handle high speeds. And considering the Amtrack accidents of the last few years...safety is probably a consideration.

[pianoman11686]

Here is a map of the existing tracks in place. I'm not sure if there is already some sort of old rail infrastructure in place that simply needs to be revamped, or if entirely new tracks have to be laid. In any case, some level of work will be done to connect Bay Head to Atlantic City. And you can be sure they won't be using high-speed trains.

http://www.njtransit.com/images/sf_tr_rail_map13.jpg

[lofter1]

3 hour train trip already available NYC > AC via Philly weekdays & weekends ...

AMTRAK (http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak/FareFinder?_tripType=OneWay&_origin=New+York+-+Penn+Station%2C+NY+%28NYP%29&_depmonthyear=2006-06&_depday=20&_dephourmin=&_destination=Philadelphia+-+30th+Street+Station%2C+PA+%28PHL%29&_retmonthyear=&_retday=&_rethourmin=&_adults=1&_children=0&_infants=0&_searchBy=schedule&x=22&y=9) : NYC > Philly ~ 1 hr. 20 min.

NY TRANSIT (http://www.njtransit.com/sf_tr_schedules.jsp?action=entry&resptype=U&MinB=0&MinA=0&Fare=Y&Line=ATLC&LineDesc=Atlantic+City+Line&LineLookup=&STime=12%3A00+PM&RTime=1%3A00+PM&Oloc=Philadelphia+30th+Street&OSID=1+++++++&Dloc=Atlantic+City&DSID=10++++++&back=sf_tr_schedules.shtml&LineExt=ATLC%3AAtlantic+City+Line&ori=1+++++++%3APhiladelphia+30th+Street&LineExt2=ATLC%3AAtlantic+City+Line&des=10++++++%3AAtlantic+City&DOW=W&mm=6&dd=20&yyyy=2006&date=6%2F20%2F2006) : Philly > Atlantic City ~ 1 hr. 30 min.


Travelers can also get there by taking a one-way Amtrak train from Penn Station to Philadelphia at a cost of $42 to $64, and then switching to New Jersey Transit's $7.25 one-way service to Atlantic City.

[stache]

The following article by Thomas Barlas was posted on the Press of Atlantic City website on June 16.)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- NJ Transit could decide Monday whether to begin new rail service between Atlantic City and New York.

The proposal will be discussed by NJ Transit's board of directors Monday. A vote on the plan is expected, NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett said.

Karlis Povisils, director of policy research for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, said the train would stop only at Newark during its run between New York and Atlantic City. The trip would take about 2½ hours, or the same time it takes a bus to run between Manhattan and Atlantic City, he said.

An attempt to connect New York City and Atlantic City with a direct train failed in the late 1980s. This time, Atlantic City's casinos, faced with looming competition from Pennsylvania and New York, are apparently putting their weight behind the project. The train would run as a contract operation, with the casino industry guaranteeing operating costs and handling other services such as marketing, Povisils said.

NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington said during a transportation conference in Atlantic City in April that NJ Transit was working out details with Amtrak for the use of a portion of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line between 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and Trenton.

NJ Transit already runs trains along the Northeast Corridor line between Trenton and Newark. It needs to use the portion of the Northeast Corridor line between 30th Street Station and Trenton so customers can ride one of its trains between Atlantic City and Newark without having to change trains in Philadelphia.

While Warrington wouldn't discuss details of the plan, transportation officials said they involve whether NJ Transit's proposed train service would cut in profits for cash-strapped Amtrak.

Should those details work out and NJ Transit get the passenger cars and engines it needs, the service could begin in about 18 months to two years, Warrington said during the April conference.

NJ Transit's rail plan would essentially link the Atlantic City line — which runs between Atlantic City and Philadelphia — and the Northeast Corridor line.

************************************************** *******

I'm guessing that the train would stop at Newark Airport and possibly Rahway as well -

[pianoman11686]

Why the hell wouldn't they just extend the North Jersey Coast line? It's a shorter distance, and it's a much quicker route than going right by Philly. Am I missing something here?

[OmegaNYC]

Why the hell wouldn't they just extend the North Jersey Coast line? It's a shorter distance, and it's a much quicker route than going right by Philly. Am I missing something here?

I guess people in South Jersey wouldn't like that idea. :p

[pianoman11686]

Yeah but people in South Jersey already have the Atlantic City Line. The whole point of this is to give people closer to New York City easy access. It just makes no sense to make people take a train that goes west to Philly just to go back east later. It's thinking like this that has led to American rail travel becoming a laughingstock.

[stache]

When I found the above article I was actually looking for information if there ever was a train that went all the way to AC following the shore line. Does anybody know? Bay Head is about 40 miles from AC, and for some reason you have to change trains at Long Branch to go any further South.

[lofter1]

Are there any boats that ferry passengers from the harbor @ NJ / NYC > AC?

[ablarc]

^ They ought to run a high-speed ferry, like Hong Kong-Macau or Boston-Provincetown. Hydrofoil would be nice.

Convenient for day trips.

[Dynamicdezzy]

Why the hell wouldn't they just extend the North Jersey Coast line? It's a shorter distance, and it's a much quicker route than going right by Philly. Am I missing something here?


This is a project between the casinos and NJ Transit. The casinos would pay the agency to run direct service on the weekends only. This is not NJ Transit's doing, which is why they are only utilizing existing infrastructure. I doubt the casinos are willing to invest all that money in expanding someone else's business.

[NYatKNIGHT]

When I found the above article I was actually looking for information if there ever was a train that went all the way to AC following the shore line. Does anybody know? Bay Head is about 40 miles from AC, and for some reason you have to change trains at Long Branch to go any further South.


North Jersey Coast Line - Electric trains operate daily between New York Penn Station and Long Branch, 63.9 miles. On weekdays, diesel-powered trains operate from Hoboken Terminal and Newark Penn Station to Bay Head. Off-peak and weekend service to Bay Head is provided by diesel-powered shuttles from Long Branch, 15.7 miles. Serves 24 stations. On weekends in the summer, extra diesel trains run direct from Hoboken and Newark to the Jersey Shore, and NJ Transit operates the Pony Express to Monmouth Park racetrack.

There was no line that followed the shore all the way down to A.C. continuing from Bay Head, however the Central RR of NJ - Southern Division branched off the NJCL at Red Bank.

Central RR of NJ “Famous for the route of the Blue Comet which ran from Jersey City to Atlantic City from 1929 to 1941…”

http://www.thebluecomet.com/cnjsoudiv.html

[stache]

My hero... : )

[stache]

I found this map of the Blue Comet line. You follow the red line to Winslow Junction, then the line to AC. So it looks like the NY/AC train line was always somewhat circuitous. It must be the pull of Philly, which makes sense. Long Island is more convenient for NY as a resort area.

[NYatKNIGHT]

Good Map!

You'd think you could get to A.C. from New York on the Pennsylvania Railroad, no? They have that, the B&O Railroad, the Short Line, and the Reading, right?

[stache]

Here's a map of part of the Penn RR system from 1893. They had to work their way around that Amboy bay, plus the large inlet of water above AC. The second map is part of the B&O RR from 1876. As far as I can tell, the Short Line served South Jersey and had a line that went from AC to Ocean City. There's a good background article at http://www.7miletimes.com/seaisletimes/railroad.htm The third map shows part of the Reading RR from the 20's.

[pianoman11686]

GlobeSt.com (http://www.globest.com/news/607_607/newjersey/146879-1.html?type=pf)
Last updated: June 26, 2006 10:56am

Investors Plan to Buy 11-Acre Site

By Eric Peterson

ATLANTIC CITY-A long, vacant three-block tract at the southern end of this city’s boardwalk is about to change hands and may finally be developed. According to a published report, an investment group is set to pay $88 million for the 11-acre site, which is owned by the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort and its parent, Colony Capital LLC.

According to the report, the investment group is led by Wallace R. Barr, the former president and CEO of Caesars Entertainment, who stepped down from that position when the company was bought by Harrah’s Entertainment, and by Curtis Bashaw, the former executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, a state agency. Bashaw, who left the CRDA post last October, currently heads Cape Advisors Inc., a Cape May, NJ-based firm that operates historic hotel properties there and office and residential properties in two other states. All of the parties involved in the pending transaction declined to comment or were unavailable.

According to reports, what Barr and Bashaw have in mind for the site is a small casino/hotel property. The 11 acres is considered too small for a mega hotel of the type that has been rising here lately, such as the Borgata. The site once held the Dunes Casino Hotel, which was never completed and was finally demolished in the early 1990s after sitting vacant for five years.

Copyright © 2006 ALM Properties, Inc.

[pianoman11686]

From Saltwater Taffy to Louis Vuitton

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/04/19/business/19mall.600.jpg
Luxury boutiques are among the 85 tenants signed so far to move into the Pier at Caesars, which is scheduled to open in June.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/04/19/business/19mall_graph.190.gif
The new shopping center juts into the ocean near Caesars.

By TERRY PRISTIN

Published: April 19, 2006

ATLANTIC CITY — The shops along this city's storied Boardwalk tend to be modest establishments with names like Sully's Pizza and 99¢ Everything.

But soon, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Salvatore Ferragamo — brands that evoke Fifth Avenue and Rodeo Drive rather than rolling chairs and saltwater taffy — will be added to the mix. These luxury boutiques are among about 85 shops and restaurants that have signed leases at the Pier at Caesars, the gambling resort's first upscale mall, a glossy structure of three and a half stories that looks like a pale green ship jutting into the ocean. Linked to the casino by a skybridge, the pier will also house the city's first wedding chapel.

The lead developer of the pier, which is scheduled to open in June, is Gordon Group Holdings, a privately owned company in Greenwich, Conn., founded by Sheldon Gordon. Mr. Gordon created the Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas, a project that seemed daring when it was built in the early 1990's. But the Forum Shops, with its gigantic talking "Roman" statues, went on to be among the top-performing malls in the nation and is credited as the catalyst for the transformation of Las Vegas into a destination for shoppers as well as gamblers.

Gordon Group and its partner, the Taubman Company, a real estate investment trust based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., say that Atlantic City is poised for a similar metamorphosis. "This town is shifting already," said Scott Gordon, the company's president and Sheldon's son, in a recent interview in the construction trailer next to the pier. "There's enough meat on the bone for someone not interested in gambling to come here."

The pier — which received $43 million from the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and a $100 million construction loan from Eurohypo, a German bank that invests heavily in American real estate — will be the third heavily subsidized shopping center to open here since 2003.

That year, the Cordish Company of Baltimore opened the Walk, an outlet center in a previously drug-infested neighborhood. Another shopping center, the Quarter at Tropicana, has branches of the Palm and P. F. Chang chain restaurants, and a Las Vegas-style blue ceiling with clouds.

Today, the city is awash with hotel, casino and retail expansion projects and condo developments, but Wall Street analysts say that the pier is a gamble. "I would call it fascinating, very interesting and very creative as retail goes," said Matthew L. Ostrower, a REIT analyst at Morgan Stanley, "but I would also call it high risk. They are in uncharted waters here."

Mr. Gordon concedes as much. Some of the most sought-after tenants — no more than a handful, he maintains — will not pay a set rent but will be charged initially according to the sales they generate. The developers will also absorb much of the expense of creating the stores, a cost known as tenant improvement, or T.I.

"We don't build cookie-cutter projects that make sense to a lot of people when they first see them," he said. "We like going into underdeveloped, underappreciated markets, and we know we need large T.I. before we go out and talk to tenants. We know that going to Gucci and asking them to go to a market like Atlantic City is a reach."

Though Atlantic City had almost as many visitors last year as Las Vegas did (35 million, as opposed to 38.6 million, according to each cities convention and visitors authorities), there are striking contrasts between them. About two-thirds of Atlantic City's visitors are day-trippers, while visitors to Las Vegas stay an average of 3.5 days. Tourism generates $36.7 billion for Las Vegas, but only $6.5 billion for Atlantic City.

Real estate prices in nearby suburbs have escalated, but Atlantic City (population 40,500) remains poor, with a median household income of $27,000, compared with $42,000 for the nation as a whole, according to the 2000 census. Only 10.4 percent of Atlantic City's residents are college graduates.

Mr. Ostrower said that Taubman, whose relationship with Gordon began more than two decades ago with their co-development of the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, has also hedged its risk. The partnership, announced last year, required Taubman to invest only $4 million at first. A second payment of about $20 million is not due until six months after the project opens. The final installment will equal 7 percent of the project's net operating income in 2007.

"This is the way you structure a deal if you are worried about how well the property is going to do," Mr. Ostrower said.

But Robert S. Taubman, the chief executive of Taubman, said that the Gordon Group sought this arrangement to "capture most of the value creation."

There have been bumps in the road, however. As the cost of the project escalated — Mr. Gordon said the price tag is now about $200 million — the Gordon Group ran short of capital and Taubman declined to move up its payment schedule, said two participants in the negotiations. The problem was resolved recently when Gordon got a loan of about $20 million from the Starwood Capital Group. Originally built a century ago as an amusement park known as the Million-Dollar Pier, the pier was converted in 1950 into an inward-looking shopping mall with T-shirt shops and other low-end retail. When Caesars bought the mall in 1996, the Gordon Group managed it for a few years. In 2003, Gordon signed a 75-year ground lease with Caesars, now owned by Harrah's Entertainment.

But it was not until the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa opened in the city's marina district that summer and became an instant success that the company determined that it made sense to go after high-end retail tenants, Mr. Gordon said.

The city's first luxury hotel, Borgata has attracted a younger, more affluent crowd. "It's difficult to get in there on the weekend unless you're a rated player," said Warren J. Marr, the director of the hospitality and leisure consulting practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, referring to serious gamblers.

Richard B. Hodos, a principal at Madison HGCD, a retail real estate consulting and brokerage company in New York, was originally skeptical about the project but wound up advising a designer to open a store at the pier. (The name of the designer has not been made public because the lease has not been signed.) "I know of no one who goes to Atlantic City," he said. "But when we looked at the average expenditure in the casinos, and the profile of the high rollers, in some cases it exceeded what we find in Las Vegas."

While the concept for the pier was inspired by the Forum at Caesars, the design was not. Rather, the goal was to take full advantage of the site, echoing the wood flooring of the Boardwalk and opening up the building to panoramic shoreline views.

"This is a different kind of mystical and romantic experience, a walk off the edge of the earth," said David P. Manfredi, a partner in Elkus-Manfredi, the architects who developed the original concept for the building and designed the exterior. (The Rockwell Group designed the common spaces.)

As a nod to the electric signs that created a sensation when they were installed on the Atlantic City piers in the 1920's, the new mall will be festooned with L.E.D. screens. A water show set to music is meant to draw visitors to the end of the long and narrow pier, Mr. Manfredi said.

Talking statues, however, will be nowhere in sight. "We didn't want to create a kitschy project," Mr. Gordon said.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

[stache]

How odd that the Borgata is away from the beach.

[Dynamicdezzy]

Atlantic City casinos shut down
12 facilities forced to close due to budget battle in New Jersey

Associated Press
Updated: 8:45 a.m. PT July 5, 2006

TRENTON, N.J. - If there’s one sure thing in this city of uncertainties, it’s always been this: Casinos find a way to keep the dice rolling.

Until now.

Atlantic City’s 12 casinos — from the three Trumps to the Tropicana — shut down their gambling floors Wednesday morning for the first time ever, their hand forced by a stalemate over the state budget.

The casinos’ hotels, which attract millions of gamblers and vacationers every year, will remain open because they don’t require state involvement in their day-to-day operations, but no gambling will be allowed because the state casino inspectors who keep tabs on the money are off the job until lawmakers approve the budget. State parks and beaches will also close because of the lack of staff.

Minutes before the 8 a.m. deadline Wednesday, gamblers were still at the slot machines with their cups of coins.

“What else can you do down here besides gamble?” said Janice Sidwa, 60, who was in the midst of a four-day trip to the city.

Missed deadline
The problem started when the Legislature missed its July 1 constitutional deadline to pass the budget. Gov. Jon S. Corzine ordered state offices shutdown Saturday, all non-essential state government operations closed, and furloughed more than half the state’s employees.

Only about 36,000 people in vital roles such as child welfare, state police and mental hospitals remained on the job.

Without an approved spending plan, New Jersey can’t pay its state employees.

That means state parks, beaches, campgrounds and historic sites are also closing down — another smack to residents, with school out and the summer heat sizzling.

The casino shutdowns are a particularly hard blow to the state’s coffers as lawmakers fight over how to close a $4.5 billion hole in the governor’s state budget.

The Atlantic City casinos have a $1.1 billion payroll and spend billions more on goods and services. The state gets an 8 percent cut of their revenue — about $1.3 million a day.

“They’re going to lose a lot of money,” said Jerome Harper, 42, of Philadelphia, who was playing the slots at Resorts Atlantic City. “It’s bad. Why close it down when you could just do your job and put the budget together? That’s what they’re paid for.”

The Legislature, meanwhile, is under orders to get to work.

New address by Corzine
Corzine planned to address all 120 state lawmakers again Wednesday morning about the impasse.

The dispute — between the governor and his fellow Democrats who control the Legislature — centers on Corzine’s plan to raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help overcome a $4.5 billion budget deficit in his $31 billion spending plan. The proposal would cost the average New Jersey family an estimated $275 per year.

Casino executives were busy trying to make sure the shutdown was orderly.

Up to 15,000 casino employees would be thrown out of work by the closings, and that number could double if the casinos remain closed through the weekend, according to Robert McDevitt, president of Local 54 of UNITE HERE, a labor union that represents rank-and-file casino hotel workers.

Police Chief John Mooney worried that the sudden evacuation of the casinos could lead to problems with drunken driving, street crime and labor unrest. If the shutdown continues, casino workers who aren’t being paid could make trouble, he said.

“This is a state-created disaster,” Mooney said.

The gamblers were well aware of the loss for the city.

“This is what brings the money in,” said Bertha Arrington, 57, of Baldwin, N.Y., sitting at slot machine Tuesday.

[pianoman11686]

GlobeSt.com (http://www.globest.com/news/634_634/newjersey/147406-1.html)

Last updated: July 18, 2006 09:28am

$1B Redevelopment Set To Roll

By Eric Peterson

http://www.globest.com/newspics/nej_victoriatower.jpg

ATLANTIC CITY-A sweeping redevelopment plan has been unveiled for this city’s blighted Southeast Inlet section, and when it’s all built out, the total price tag could be in the $1-billion area. The plan covers a 10-block vacant area on the northern end of this city’s oceanfront boardwalk.
“There was a time when the Southeast Inlet was a desirable place to live, and I think you’re going to see history repeat itself,” says Tom Scannapieco, president of the Scannapieco Development Co. of New Hope, PA, who’s behind the plan. “Atlantic City is just emerging.”

The plan calls for as many as 19 residential condo buildings, along with a major retail component. Morgan Stanley Gaming Holdings Inc. is also planning to develop a new casino resort property on a 20-acre.

And while Scannapieco is behind the plan, and his company’s Bella Condominiums, already completed, is the catalyst, a number of other developers have signed on to develop properties within the site. Altogether, more than 1,300 residential units have been confirmed for the site, according to Scannapieco. The latter has also gotten the mayor and city council to change, by proclamation, the name of the region from Southeast Inlet to North Beach.

Scannapieco’s Bella Condos consists of 200 units in 27 stories. Additional commitments have come from Simdag Investment, a Tampa, FL-based company with an office in Sea Isle City, which is set to build Victoria Tower, a 38-story luxury building with 400 units. Jim Maggs, a Brielle-based developer will also build Marbella, featuring 331 units and 36 stories.

The Miami-based Lennar Corp., meanwhile, will add Reflections, a mid-rise condo building, to the redubbed North Beach mix. And Prestigious Homes, based in Ventnor, an Atlantic City suburb, will add 250 units adjacent to Scannapieco’s Bella property. Additional developers are expected to be announced for sites within North Beach.

Scannapieco first got involved in Atlantic City’s long-term redevelopment two decades ago, since building some $60 million worth of mid-level housing. Most of that has come in the city’s Northeast Inlet.

Copyright © 2006 ALM Properties, Inc.

[American Gaming Guru]

Are there any boats that ferry passengers from the harbor @ NJ / NYC > AC?

Great idea, but Harrah's already tried it in the early 80's I believe. Supposedly the tides between NYC and AC were so rough that passengers we all arriving sick and had to be sent back in limos.

Not sure how newer boats would do, but it is worth a look.

The new train service sounds exciting, but at 2.5 hours, not more time saving than driving. For car-less NYC people, like me, it will offer a nice alternative to the bus. Hopefully the train crowd will be made of a more affluent crowd and a lively one too!

[lofter1]

Supposedly the tides between NYC and AC were so rough that passengers we all arriving sick and had to be sent back in limos.

Don't know if they should blame the tides / boat ...

Last time I was there AC itself made me queasy ;)

[OmegaNYC]

I was in AC yesterday, had a great time! Though it was packed!

[STT757]

I just got back from Atlantic City, the place is booming. I read recently that the month during which the State of NJ shut down and the Casinos had to temporarily close for a few days was actually the second highest grossing month for the Atlantic City casinos.

Business is obviously booming, it has alot of potential but has a LOOONG way to go. It's on the right track.

Good points:

Borgata (keep expanding, more shops and restaraunts)
Tropicana (it's my favorite AC casino, I love Carmines and PF Changs)
The Pier (it's not fully opened yet, but I liked what I saw. Apple Store, Tiffanys, Burberry etc.. Good job.

Other good points,
Convention center and Sheraton Hotel (very nice)
The Walk Outlets

What needs to be expanded upon:

Rail service, more frequent trains to Philadelphia and besides the Casino Express being developed for next Summer a direct rail link between NY Penn/North Jersey and Atlantic City.

Light Rail, connect the NJ Transit Rail station, Convention Center, Marina Casinos, Boardwalk Casinos, Atlantic City International Airport. NJ has done well with Light Rail in Newark and along the Delaware River in South Jersey and the Hudson River in North Jersey, it's time to apply the lessons learned in those projects to Atlantic City.

Atlantic City International Airport: Currently has only two airlines, Spirit and Delta Connection. Every major US Airline should have regional Jet service to their major hubs from Atlantic City, UAL, AA, NWA, CO, US, DL etc..
Also every effort should be made to attracting an airline like Jetblue who can draw alot of attention to Atlantic City.

Cesars Hotel and Casino, not bad but not as good as Tropicana and Borgata. Keep the investments coming.

The Bad:
The shadey boardwalk, clean it up and make it more family freindly like the Pt.Pleasant Boardwalk.
Trump Casinos, old run down casinos, old apartment buildings and the run down homes within the boardwalk area.

I would love if one of the Trump Casinos (either the Marina or Trump Plaza) was totaly gutted and rebuilt as a Hard Rock Hotel Casino.

As for the rest of Atlantic City, there are alot of neighborhoods with good spots that are totaly run down and abandoned. Why not build upon the resources available, South Jersey is experiencing a huge building boom with Retirement Communities. Many are high end Toll Brothers retirement communities, why not have developers like Toll Brothers, Hovanian etc take over some of these rundown abandonded neighborhoods and build gated retirement communities right inside Atlantic City.

Atlantic City has alot to offer Senior Citizens (the place is full of them), since Senior Citizens do not have kids they don't worry about things like the quality of the local schools. As long as it's safe, very safe, gated and conveinent I think it would be something that can work to bring new life to these dead communities surrounding the Casinos.

[STT757]

Atlantic City Outlets http://www.acoutlets.com/

The Pier at Caesars http://www.thepieratcaesars.com/

http://images.appleinsider.com/images/thepier-rendering1.jpg

http://images.appleinsider.com/images/thepier-rendering2.jpg

http://images.appleinsider.com/images/thepier-rendering4.jpg

http://images.appleinsider.com/images/thepier-rendering5.jpg

About the Times Square style bilboards:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/11-02-2005/0004206342&EDATE=

Borgata http://www.theborgata.com/

Tropicana http://www.tropicana.net/

Atlantic City Airport http://www2.sjta.com/acairport/

[OmegaNYC]

That's what I like to see! Atlantic City is booming. What would really make Atlantic City a wonderful place, is a pro sports team. Yeah like basketball. Take that LV. :p

[STT757]

Im not sure about a sports team, but perhaps moving a NBA or NFL training camp to Atlantic City during the Summer Off-season would offer another non gambling attraction.

However one thing I think that would help put Atlantic City a little more closer to Las Vegas would be to legalize Sports betting, if Atlantic City legalized sports betting it would bring in a tremendous amount of revenue that is either going to Las Vegas or into organzied crime.

Imagine the crowds in Atlantic City during the Super Bowl Weekend if Sports betting were legal, that weekend every room with miles of Atlantic City would be booked solid.

[pianoman11686]

From GlobeSt.com (http://www.globest.com/news/704_704/newjersey/148785-1.html)

Last updated: September 5, 2006 01:58pm

New Resort To Follow Pinnacle’s $250M Casino Buy

By Eric Peterson

ATLANTIC CITY-This gaming mecca is about to get yet another sprawling casino/hotel/resort property, but will lose a small, older hotel property in the process. The Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to buy 18 contiguous acres along this city’s boardwalk for $250 million. The primary properties are the existing Sands Casino Hotel and the former Traymore Hotel site.

The sellers of the properties are affiliates of financier Carl Icahn, the primary affiliate being Atlantic Coast Entertainment Holdings Inc. (ACE Hi). The major stockholder of ACE Hi, AREP Sands Holding LLC, owns approximately 58% of the outstanding stock of ACE Hi. AREP Sands itself is a wholly owned subsidiary of Icahn’s American Real Estate Holdings LP.

And Pinnacle, which develops upscale mixed-use properties with or without casinos, plans to redevelop the site with an entirely new casino/hotel property. That plan calls for the 26-year-old Sands, one of the city’s smaller hotel/casino properties with 600 guest rooms, to be shuttered and torn down. While the deal isn’t expected to close until year’s end, the agreement calls for the Sands to be closed for good within 70 days, or approximately mid-November.

“While we regret the necessity of closing the Sands, we look forward to working with gaming regulators, state and local authorities to create more jobs, tax revenues and other benefits,” says Daniel R. Lee, Pinnacle’s chairman/CEO. “In connection with our longstanding interest in Atlantic City, we submitted our initial license application in New Jersey several months ago. The regulatory investigation is ongoing.”

“After spending many months reviewing various projects for this property, it became patently clear that a shutdown of the Sands was necessary and inevitable to make room for a great new casino,” Icahn says, in a prepared statement. “We also concluded that this was the most propitious time to undertake this shutdown given the robust employment environment in Atlantic City.”

According to details released by the buyer and seller, the deal is not subject to financing. The agreement also contains non-solicitation, fiduciary and termination fee provisions. ACE Hi can’t solicit other acquisition proposals, but for 45 days has the right to negotiate with anyone submitting an unsolicited proposal. If ACE Hi reneges on the sale agreement in favor of another bidder, the termination fee is $10 million.

And while Pinnacle develops properties with or without casinos, casinos are apparently part of the long-term game plan for the company. “This major new resort will be a key component in our plan to build a national network of gaming properties,” Lee says. Interestingly, one of those properties is a gaming/entertainment project proposed for 33 acres on the Delaware River waterfront just an hour’s drive to the west in Philadelphia.

Copyright © 2006 ALM Properties, Inc.

[STT757]

Atlantic City needs a Hard Rock Hotel/Casino, either a new build or taking an older property like Trump Plaza and totaly gutting the structure and rebuilding it as a huge up scale casino hotel catering to young affluent Northeast customers.

[STT757]

There's a couple of rail proposals here, first to build a station where the NJ Transit Philadelphia-Atlantic City Line meets the River Line Light Rail. It would allow travelers to transfer from the Light Rail River Line to NJ Transit's Atlantic City line and Vice versa, the two lines cross near the Delaware river.

The next proposal is to build a station on the NJ Transit Atlantic City rail line at Atlantic City International Airport. The third proposal is to build a light rail from the Atlantic City Casinos-Atlantic City International Airport.

NJ Transit may add rail stop on way to Trenton

September 14, 2006
ATLANTIC CITY — NJ Transit wants to link its growing Atlantic City rail line with one of its underperforming routes to give customers easier access to Trenton and other destinations in the northern end of the state.
The proposal would create a new station where the Atlantic City Line crosses the River Line light rail system near Pennsauken in Camden County.

That would mean, for instance, that Atlantic City Line riders could board the River Line without having to first take a PATCO train from Lindenwold to Camden.

NJ Transit Senior Director of Statewide Planning Jerry Lutin told more than 100 people attending “Improving the Way,” a forum designed to outline Atlantic County's transportation needs, that the agency is currently studying whether the proposal is feasible.

Meanwhile, officials with the South Jersey Transportation Authority, or SJTA, said they want another stop on the Atlantic City Line, this one at Atlantic City International Airport. SJTA operates the airport.

SJTA Chief Engineer Sam Donelson said SJTA believes the stop could be a success, particular if it's built as a sort of park-and-ride lot that could draw users from fast-growing Egg Harbor Township.
SJTA spokeswoman Sharon Gordon said the stop also could help attract more air carriers who look for different modes of transportation to take customers from an airport to their eventual destination. That destination for Atlantic City International customers would primarily be Atlantic City, she said.

Wednesday's transportation forum at Atlantic City Convention Center featured officials from SJTA, NJ Transit, the state Department of Transportation, New Jersey Turnpike Authority and Atlantic County discussing the transportation needs of the county.

County officials say finding ways to improve the transportation system is critical, as a growing population and tourism base is straining existing roadways. They note how the county added 18,000 new residents since the 2000 Census, and more than 33 million tourists visit the region every year.

One thing that was clear from the forum is that the traffic conditions could get worse, in part because of expected casino projects in Atlantic City.

John Payne, president of Atlantic City operations for Harrah's Entertainment, who was among those attending the forum — primarily involved with government, business, transportation and planning agencies — said the city could need more than 20,000 new employees if all proposed casino projects are built. The casino projects could increase the number of gaming hall visitors by 60 percent in three to four years, he said.

“There is gridlock today,” he said. “What's going to happen when we move forward. The decisions you make today are incredibly important.”

Payne said one possible solution to easing transportation problems could be a light rail line running between the city and Atlantic City International.

Panel members addressed various projects, ranging from adding additional lanes to the Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway, finding better ways to improve traffic flow and fixing overloaded intersections, streets and bridges.

NJ Transit officials say the Atlantic City Line is the fastest growing of their rail lines. It carried a record 1.1 million riders in fiscal year 2005.

The River Line opened millions of dollars over budget and a year-and-a-half behind schedule, and the state attorney general's office even investigated why it was built. The line at one point was losing $20 million per year.

However, ridership has been growing annually.

Lutin said NJ Transit has considered building the link between the River Line and Atlantic City Line for some time.

He said the connection would make it easier for state employees living in places like western Atlantic County to get to Trenton. It also would provide an easier way for people riding the Atlantic City Line to eventually link up with the Northeast Corridor Line, which extends to Newark and New York City, he said.

Earlier this year, NJ Transit approved a three-year trial of an Atlantic City-New York City train funded by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and three casinos.

Lutin said the train should be operating in December 2007.

The River Line light rail system runs 34 miles between Camden and Trenton. It has 20 stops along the Delaware River's Route 130 corridor. The system serves as link with the larger transportation networks of NJ Transit, Amtrak, PATCO and SEPTA.


The Atlantic City Line runs between the rail terminal in Atlantic City and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. It has stops in Absecon, Egg Harbor City, Hammonton, Atco, Lindenwold and Cherry Hill.

[Fabrizio]

STT:

"..these rundown abandonded neighborhoods and build gated retirement communities right inside Atlantic City."

A GATED community right inside AC?

Wha? That would be the surest way to ruin the city even further.

AC needs more developments like "The Walk" and townhouses respecting a street grid.

AC right now is a string of self contained casinos: once you enter there´s no reason to leave and interact with the rest of the city. I came in from Philadelphia to the Borgata by highway...went under tunnels...to underground parking... took an elevator up....had dinner...and left repeating the process. Never setting foot outside. That´s what most folks do. The casinos are designed that way.... the casinos are booming but still: it´s BAD urban design.

The B´walk has become a hopeless stretch bounded by blank walls and mirrored glass.

They can build all the "Hard Rock" (isn´t that a brand name that´s horribly passe´ BTW?) Hotels they want....but it won´t but the "City" back into AC.

[JCMAN320]

NJ group betting on another new casino in Atlantic City

9/22/2006, 4:49 p.m. ET
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
The Associated Press

(AP) — Even after a round of ambitious casino expansions in the last few years, there's still room for Atlantic City's gambling world to keep growing, industry insiders say.

That's good news for developers who are working on bringing two new casinos to town and replacing one of the 12 already there.

News of the latest deal, reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer in Friday's newspapers, has a former casino executive joining the former executive director of the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority in an agreement to buy an 11-acre site with plans to put a new casino on it.

One of the partners, Wallace Barr, the former CEO of Caesar's, confirmed the deal to the newspaper. Neither he nor Curtis Bashaw, who had run the development authority, returned calls Friday from The Associated Press seeking details.

Analyst Adam Steinberg, who follows the casino industry for Morgan Joseph & Co., said he expects the gambling hall will be a high-end development and probably one of the smaller casinos in the resort city.

Atlantic City, once known to attract low-rolling gamblers on day trips, has been booming since 2003's opening of the Borgata, which features upscale restaurants and a spa. It was the first new casino in the resort in more than a dozen years.

Since then, several existing casinos have expanded, and followed the Borgata in adding high-end dining and shopping options.

"There definitely seems to be a realization now that you can get the younger, wealthier crowds that you couldn't get before," Steinberg said.

In a report he wrote for his company earlier this month on the prospects of more casinos in Atlantic City, Steinberg noted that each new casino in Las Vegas attracts additional visitors while helping the existing ones.

John Payne, the regional president for Harrah's Entertainment, which owns four Atlantic City casinos, agreed that there's plenty of room to grow.

There are 134,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas," Payne said. "We only have 15,000. I believe there's a lot of great opportunity left."

The tract Barr and Bashaw plan to buy is now owned by the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort. It is near that hotel and on the southern edge of the Boardwalk's row of casinos; the price will be $85 million, according to Steinberg's report.

More details are known about plans for two other new casinos.

Morgan Stanley in May bought 20 acres for a casino next to the Showboat Casino Hotel.

Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., agreed earlier this month to buy the Sands Casino. The new owner plans to close the venerable gambling hall in November, tear it down and replace it with a new one.

___

On the Net:

The Philadelphia Inquirer: http://www.philly.com

[STT757]

SJTA push may refuel A.C. airport hotel plans

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Atlantic City International Airport operators will make another attempt to get what they say is a needed hotel for the facility.

The South Jersey Transportation Authority, or SJTA, which operates the airport, will ask for proposals next month for some kind of hotel complex on a 13.5-acre site near the airport circle and bordered by Delilah and Tilton roads.

While the requests will be general, SJTA wants a proposal that includes a mix of hotel, meeting and retail space to meet the potential needs of the growing local aviation business, according to SJTA spokeswoman Laurie Brewer. The SJTA would enter into a lease
SJTA would enter a lease agreement with the developer picked for the project, she said.

SJTA officials consider a hotel key to attracting more carriers to Atlantic City International, she said, because carriers are more willing to use an airport with a nearby hotel.

SJTA officials said other reasons for wanting a hotel include an expected 60 percent jump in airport customers in the next two years, growing activities at the nearby Federal Aviation Administration’s William J. Hughes Technical Center, and plans for an aviation research park to be built near the airport circle.
Brewer said these projections translate into a growing number of travelers who want to stay in a hotel near the airport and an increased need for meeting and conference space.

“Everybody can see there is considerable growth heading our way,” she said.

Having a hotel near Atlantic City International makes sense if its operators want to be a larger player in the regional air-traffic market, said Paula B. Hochstetler, president of the Airport Consultants Council, an international association involved with airport development.

“It’s an amenity that can make all the difference when it comes to companies and organizations choosing to use a particular airport,” she said.

Hochstetler said an airport can also provide something that airport operators really need — money that’s not linked to aeronautics.

Traditional non-aeronautical revenue comes from things like parking fees and concessions, she said. Many airport operators are trying to bolster those revenues by adding stores and, in some cases, golf courses, she said. A few are also involved in oil-drilling operations.

SJTA officials believe Atlantic City International can increase the number of carriers and customers in the next few years.
They’re confident they can pick up spillover business from overcrowded major airports like Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.
SJTA also is investing millions of dollars to upgrade Atlantic City International.

Runways and taxiways have been improved. A new baggage handling and screening facility is being built that will free up space in the airport terminal. New escalators will make it easier for travelers to move through the terminal. Groundbreaking will occur soon on a planned $24.6 million parking garage.

SJTA also wouldn’t mind getting its own stop for NJ Transit’s Atlantic City Line, which could provide rail service between the airport and Atlantic City.

There were plans several years ago for a $15 million all-suite hotel to be built at the airport as part of a development project that included a parking garage. The hotel project never made it off the drawing board.

While there is as yet no timetable regarding the new airport development plans, Brewer said SJTA is anxious to get a hotel for the airport.
“We really want to be ahead of the curve in terms of the development of this site and providing amenities that are needed,” she said.

Courtyard Marriott
Hampton Inn

[STT757]

New transit study will look at what's coming down the road

ATLANTIC CITY — Nearly 35 million visitors crammed the highways, rail routes and airport terminal last year in volumes that have city officials alternately smiling and grimacing.
While the record amount of tourism has been a catalyst for economic growth, there are fears that the transportation network may be overwhelmed by so much casino-bound traffic.

With possibly four new casinos expected to open in the next five to 10 years, two state agencies are undertaking a regional transportation study to make sure the planes, trains and automobiles don't become gridlocked.

Thomas D. Carver, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, said planners will have to “think outside the box” to integrate billions of dollars in new investment and thousands of new gaming employees into the city's narrow transportation infrastructure — a “cul-de-sac,” as he called it.

“If the casinos invest all of this money and we can't get people into this region, we're in serious trouble,” Carver said.

CRDA board members gave preliminary approval Tuesday for the transportation study, although the cost and the amount of time it will take to complete are not yet known. The casino authority will work with the state Department of Transportation on the project, but regional agencies such as the South Jersey Transportation Authority likely will be part of the effort.
Carver said the study will analyze all aspects of the region's transportation system, including highways, local streets, bus traffic, rail service and Atlantic City International Airport.

“The whole gamut of issues that we face in the future have to be looked at,” he said.

Key projects will include the proposed widening of the Garden State Parkway south of Toms River, rail routes, better traffic flow on the Pacific Avenue casino strip and more commercial airline service.

Currently, about 80 percent of the visitors drive into Atlantic City, placing a great emphasis on the resort's three main entry highways. To ease some of that strain, the study will consider light rail service and analyze ways to make the Atlantic City airport more accessible to travelers.

The CRDA is already helping to underwrite the cost of new express train service that will bring casino gamblers from New York beginning late next year. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Harrah's and Caesars have formed a partnership to help the CRDA finance the $23.5 million rail route.

Atlantic City Mayor Bob Levy, a member of the CRDA's board of directors, said local transportation projects should include street widenings, improvements to Pacific Avenue and the creation of evacuation routes to help residents escape from flooding on the barrier island, particularly in the Chelsea Heights neighborhood.

Levy said the transportation study would complement the city's new master plan now under way. He characterized the region's older transportation studies as simply too outdated to handle the needs of a rapidly growing city, especially with so much new casino construction at stake.

“We have to do another study because much of Atlantic City is changing,” Levy said. “Nothing can happen until we address the transportation issues.”


They need to really push for additional airlines at ACY, they should try to "land" Jetblue. Expanding the Garden State Parkway lanes is a no brainer, building a Atlantic City Light rail to connect the Marina, Convention Center, Board Walk and Airport is the next step. NJ has done well with Light Rail in Hudson County, Newark and along the Delaware River, Atlantic City is the next step. Building a rail station on NJ Transit's Philadelphia-Atlantic City rail line will help attract customers to the airport as a reliever to congested PHL.

[STT757]

Steve Wynn is coming back to Atlantic City.

It's no mirage: Vegas' Wynn again drawn to Atlantic City
Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Steve Wynn, the man who was anointed king of the casino industry after he remade Las Vegas in the 1990s, wants to roll the dice on Atlantic City -- again.

Wynn had a private audience Friday with Gov. Jon Corzine and state Sen. William Gormley at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, and was later spotted walking along Atlantic Avenue with the powerful Republican senator from Atlantic County. The casino mogul was in town to advance his latest plan for a casino.

Corzine welcomed the idea of Wynn's return to New Jersey, three government officials said, but he did not go into too much detail about the plans. Instead, Corzine told Wynn that Gary Rose, the governor's economic development czar, would lead the discussions.

A call to Wynn's office was not returned. Gormley, the casino industry's top political ally, said Wynn is "a very nice guy. It was very nice to see him."

"Obviously, people would like to see people like Steve Wynn in New Jersey," Gormley said. "I would say it was a very positive meeting about New Jersey."

Wynn's return would further help turn Atlantic City into a tourist destination, attracting more of a younger crowd than quarter-toting seniors. While the opening of Borgata three years ago has brought signature restaurants, retail outlets and shows geared to a younger crowd, a Wynn casino would catapult the seaside resort into a higher level, analysts said.

"The Borgata has made it so that everyone realizes there is high-end demand there, that it exceeds what Borgata can provide," said CIBC World Markets analyst Mike Liebman. "If he would build a Wynn Atlantic City, it would be phenomenal -- the type of (venue) Atlantic City needs."

The casinos Wynn builds lure celebrities as well as tourists who want to see and be seen with high rollers. The Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas set the standard all of Vegas now follows, with celebrity chefs, upscale shops, trendy nightclubs and big-name entertainment.

He first remade Las Vegas in the 1990s with an exploding volcano at Mirage and choreographed waterfalls at Bellagio, then came back in the 21st century with Wynn Las Vegas, a $2 billion homage to understated elegance. His most recent venture is a casino in Macau, the top gambling resort in Asia.

"I don't think Steve Wynn is interested in building a run-of-the-mill Atlantic City casino resort," said Joe Weinert, vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group. "He wants to move the market in a meaningful way and be the marquee property, as he did in Las Vegas and as he is doing in Macau."

Wynn isn't the only developer who wants in on A.C. Earlier this month, Pinnacle Entertainment announced it would buy the Sands, tear it down and build a $1.5 billion casino on the site. An arm of Morgan Stanley has agreed to buy 20 acres next to the Showboat and is planning to partner with a casino operator to build a gambling hall there. And former Caesars Entertainment Chief Executive Wally Barr and the former head of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, Curtis Bashaw, are looking to build a casino next to the Hilton.

Meanwhile, MGM Mirage still owns dozens of acres in the Marina District next to Borgata. The company has said it plans a major development there once it's finished its $7 billion CityCenter development project in Las Vegas.

Atlantic City now has 12 casinos.

Wynn's private session with Corzine was not listed on the governor's schedule. But the governor was already in Atlantic City for a speech to the Utility & Transportation Contractors Association's annual convention, also held at the Trop.

Wynn made his interest in Atlantic City known to officials earlier this summer, and his agents have in recent months been scoping out Bader Field, a historic airport that sits on 130 acres and is scheduled to shut down Sept. 30. The airport, once one of the busiest and one of the first places ever used by pilots to take off and land, had in recent years been used as a training ground.

It is also one of the few places large enough to draw the interest of a developer like Wynn, whose plans seem to get grander with each resort.

But officials familiar with Wynn's conversation with Corzine said the two did not talk about the airport, mainly because the governor has already told key administration officials and lawmakers that he does not want to rush into any redevelopment at Bader.

Atlantic City spokesman Nick Morici said any talk of Bader Field development plans is premature.

The son of a bingo parlor operator, Wynn first came to Atlantic City in 1980 with the opening of the Golden Nugget, a slick, trendsetting casino that lured all of the city's high rollers and was the place to be seen. It quickly became one of the city's most profitable casinos.

Wynn also became a bit of a celebrity there, appearing in commercials with Frank Sinatra. He sold the Nugget in 1987 to Bally Manufacturing, vowing never to return to Atlantic City.

Less than a decade later, he changed his mind, announcing grand plans to build three casinos in Atlantic City's Marina District. The plan sparked a fury after the state agreed to kick in $220 million towards a $330 million tunnel connecting the area to the Atlantic City Expressway, making it easier for gamblers to get to Wynn's casinos.

But Wynn's company was bought by MGM Grand -- now MGM Mirage. The site is now home to Borgata, which MGM owns in partnership with Boyd Gaming.


http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1159249454224510.xml&coll=1&thispage=2

[MikeW]

New York should just legalize casino gambling and put AC to sleep.

[JCMAN320]

Not happening Mike. Mike is a Jersey hater!! :)

[Kris]

October 17, 2006
As Atlantic City Builds Up, the Whirl of Steel Pier Stops
By ROBERT STRAUSS

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/10/17/nyregion/600_pier.jpg
Steel Pier in Atlantic City was once center stage for Frank Sinatra and other acts. Now the site will be redeveloped by Trump Entertainment.

ATLANTIC CITY — Like an aging beauty desperate to keep up with the younger competition, this half-faded resort has signed up for another face-lift.

It is hardly a new phenomenon here, where a second generation of casinos has given the city another life. Like the Miss America Pageant, Steel Pier — which provided a stage for the likes of a diving horse and Ricky Nelson, Charlie Chaplin and Frank Sinatra — is the latest piece of Atlantic City’s past to be shed.

The amusement park and arcade, the pier’s final incarnation over the last decade, finally closed its doors on Sunday. Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which has owned the Boardwalk property since 1993, says it plans to develop the 1,000-foot-long pier into something completely new, though whether that is a condo or casino space, shops or a hotel, is not yet known.

Not everyone here clings to the city’s storied past; rather, others tuck away the memories, only to bring them out like an old photo album every now and then.

“As long as I can get in a rolling chair, buy a sandwich at the White House, and smell the salt air,” said Vicki Gold Levi, who with a former Esquire editor, Lee Eisenberg, wrote, “Atlantic City: 125 Years of Ocean Madness.” “I will still love Atlantic City. We may have lost Miss America and Steel Pier, but, heck we got Mr. Peanut back and lots of stores and restaurants, too.”

In the past three years, several of the city’s famous fixtures — sometimes shoved aside by the increasingly acquisitive hotel and casino operators — have decided to try their luck elsewhere. Miss America, which had been a mainstay since 1921, left town last year for Las Vegas and cities unknown. Bader Field, the first place in the world known as an “air-port,” closed last month after 86 years. Even in the iconography of board games, the city has slipped: Parker Brothers decided to market a multicity version of Monopoly, whose original model has only Atlantic City streets as well as a handful of local railroads and utilities.

Atlantic City, which for years sold itself as the “Queen of Resorts,” declined precipitously in the 1960’s, and run-down housing and vacant storefronts still pepper the city.

But today, there is a newfound enthusiasm for yet another revival; at least three casinos have towers reaching more than 400 feet under construction or in the planning stage. Four new retail complexes with designer everything are either open for business or will be by next year. And Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., a Nevada-based casino company, bought the Sands Casino site last month for $250 million and plans to knock it down and start over with a $1.2 billion complex.

“Atlantic City, if you study the history, always had risings like a Phoenix,” said Ms. Gold Levi, who lives in Manhattan now but grew up in the resort when her father was the city’s official photographer from 1939 to 1964. “The original wooden structures had fires. The Army Air Force took over in World War II. Gambling came in the 1970’s. This will be a new era.”

In truth, Miss America had become a clichéd property, and Bader Field was replaced by the modern Atlantic City International Airport, about seven miles west of the city. Steel Pier had been renovated and well cared for by the amusement park operators, but it was an attraction mostly for children, not exactly the market Atlantic City is after these days.

And it was a far cry from its heyday, when as Ed Hurst, who broadcast a dance show from the pier for 20 years, put it, “There were three featured movies in three different theaters, a minstrel show in the Casino Theater, headliners in the Music Hall Theater.”

Today it is higher-gloss casinos, bigger-name entertainment, upscale shopping and restaurants that are the newest version of this randy old city. When the hip-hop music producer Jay-Z wanted a second outlet for his 40/40 Club, he chose a spot not far from the old 500 Club, where Sinatra hung out and Dean Martin was first paired with Jerry Lewis.

Where Don Rickles and Johnny Mathis were the big draws at the casinos only a decade ago, acts ranging from the Rolling Stones and Madonna to the Killers and John Legend have fall dates here. Not too many years ago, Boardwalk emporiums hawking beach towels and cheap jewelry were the standard shopping areas near the windowless casinos. Today, the Piers at Caesars and the Walk, a high-end outlet mall, are destinations that vie with the craps tables.

“You wouldn’t have gone to Michigan and Arctic without an armed guard not so long ago,” said Mr. Hurst, a leading Philadelphia disc jockey, who from 1958 to 1978 broadcast a popular “American Bandstand”-like television show on summer Saturday afternoons from Steel Pier. “Now it’s chic. It’s hard to complain about losing the old Atlantic City when you see that.”

Even the investment firm Morgan Stanley has joined the gold rush, buying a 20-acre parcel at the north end of the Boardwalk. And a consortium led by a former casino executive, Wallace Barr, is buying a site at the south end of the city. Stephen Wynn, who once owned the Golden Nugget Casino here, is said to be looking into the Bader Field property even though it is not currently zoned for casino development. And the Borgata, Harrah’s and the Trump Taj Mahal will all soon have new hotel-casino towers.

So it is not surprising that Steel Pier — which for almost 50 years featured a young woman astride a horse plunging 40 feet into a 12-foot-deep tank of water — could not keep up with the Las Vegas look and feel that Atlantic City aspires to.

Even Mr. Hurst, who for a generation of rock ’n’rollers was the face of Steel Pier, had to concede the other day: “Only a few years after we started the show, they booked fewer and fewer top acts. Air travel was getting cheaper. People slowly started not coming to Atlantic City.”

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/10/17/nyregion/1017-met-PIERmapWEB.gif

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

[American Gaming Guru]

Just a few quick notes reading some of the more recent posts:

There are said to be at least 3 new resorts (by Morgan Stanley/Kevin DeSanctis, Pinnacle (Sands site) and Barr/Bashaw) on the way. But announcing a new resort development in AC that never makes it to grand opening is unfortunately an old tradition in AC.

With that said; this market is completely underserved and would explode if new resorts were built. The city is literally busting at the seams as it is. It is now fashionable to see and be seen in AC. Does it still have bad areas..a resounding YES, but progress can easily be seen throughout the city and AC is on its way to becoming the Queen of Resorts it once was.

Other notes:

Yes, AC desperately needs more air service. Jet Blue would be a fantastic addition.

Also, I understand the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) met recently to address infrastructure/transportation issues. A light rail/monorail that linked everything up would be ideal as suggested.

If you have not been to a Trump Hotel recently, I would suggest taking another look. More so at Trump Plaza. The place looks great and the more lucrative customer base seems to be back again. The re-design appears to be working out well.

More on Hard Rock....A few years back before Trump Castle became Trump Marina, Trump negotiated with The Rank Group (owner of Hard Rock) to convert the Castle to a Hard Rock Hotel/Casino (I believe the official name was going to be "Hard Rock Hotel Casino at Trump Marina"). For reasons that I do not know, the transaction never happened. Trump went ahead and re-branded the Castle as “Trump Marina” and gave it a younger-crowd feel. This was very successful and marked a great turn-around for the property until Borgata arrived. Rightfully so, this incredible resort stole a great portion of the Marina customer base (and Taj’s) and it’s President (who is now president of The Borgata)!

There are rumors that Rank is very much interested in bringing a Hard Rock branded Casino to AC. It would be a MAJOR player in my mind. We shall see……

[American Gaming Guru]

What remained in no way resembled the Steel Pier.

Donald tried to revive it a few years ago by first trying to strike a deal with Six Flags to operate it. When that did not pan-out, he tried brining back the rides and old attractions (I believe a wish of Mark G. Etess, the 1st president of the Taj, who tragically died in the infamous helicopter crash shortly before the Taj opened). Unfortunately animal protectionists went nuts when he brought back “The Diving Horse”. So the diving horse attraction was scrapped and what remained was cheap carnival amusements that can be transported and found at any neighborhood fundraiser. It actually made the boardwalk side of the Taj look trashy in my opinion.

Building another classy destination (hotels rooms, casino, shops, restaurants etc) would be more of a tribute to the original Steel Pier.

[G_Money]

I was in AC this past weekend, stayed at the Borgata, and let me tell you, The Trump Marina from the outside, looks like the biggest POS next to the Borgata.

I'm 25 yr old male, and I'll admit my fav AC hotel is the TAJ (Borgata is too boojie and pretentious) but me and my friends were saying, if they just built newer hotels like the Borgata, and a few more airlines in here, thered be much more to do here as people would stay longer than a night.

It only makes sense, people WANT TO PAY TOP MONEY FOR THE TOP HOTELS. Why else would anyone pay 565 a night to stay at the bogata when harrahs and marina are right next door for 200???

[STT757]

There are said to be at least 3 new resorts (by Morgan Stanley/Kevin DeSanctis, Pinnacle (Sands site) and Barr/Bashaw) on the way

Does that include Steve Wynn, Wynn is back in Atlantic City eyeing the recently closed Bader Field Property.

They need to do what ever is necessary to "land" Jetblue, with Southwest dominating PHL they are not going to come to Atlantic City, nor is Jetblue going to go to Philadelphia to compete head to head with Southwest.

These routes are what the SJTA and the casinos should be trying to attract to Atlantic City International Airport.

Jetblue:
Boston, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft.Myers, Las Vegas, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach.

Airtran:
Atlanta, Chicago Midway

Continental:
Cleveland, Newark

DL:
JFK

US Airways:
Charlotte, Pittsburgh

United:
Washington Dulles, Chicago Ohare

American:
Miami.

[STT757]

My favorite Atlantic City Casino is Tropicana, the Quarter is so much fun. My fiancee and I love P.F. Changs and Carmines.

Trump hopefully will be investing some serious money into his properties to catch up to Tropicana and Borgata, I would look to what Tropicana has done with the Quarter, and what Ceasars has done with the Pier.

That Trump almost partnered with Hard Rock on the Marina property is something I did not know, the Marina is the perfect property for such an Investment. I can only hope they try to bring Hard Rock Hotel to Atlantic City again.

Atlantic City is on the way up, this time is for real IMO.

Other improvements that need to be made.

Light Rail to connect the Casinos, Convention Center, NJ Transit Rail Station and the Atlantic City International Airport.

Widening of the Garden State Parkway, and the Atlantic City Expressway.

Direct entrances to Atlantic City International Airport from the Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway.

Dedicated year round daily rail service between New York City/Northern New Jersey and Atlantic City, something no longer than 2.5 hours.

[American Gaming Guru]

You got it right G Money. Trump Marina was my favorite property before Borgata opened. Now I look out of the window, of my room at Borgata, and can’t help but think that it does look like a POS! At one point during Trump’s bankruptcy restructuring, the T in Trump Maria was out! The Donald of the 1980’s would never stand for that. But we can’t blame him for an ugly looking building. Hilton actually built it, did not get licensed by the NJ CCC and then Trump bought it from them and opened it as Trump’s Castle. In the very beginning, they were even utilizing Hilton casino chips.

It’s too bad, because Trump Marina was a really fun place (virtually pioneering the market to a younger “hip” crowd) and is still quite comfortable. Trump actually did a nice rehab on the rooms there recently. Many of my friends still stay there since rates are more reasonable and then party at Borgata/Trop/Taj.

Who knows what the future holds for that property. It is in a fantastic location. One impediment is that MGM owns a sizable chunk of land next to it bordering the inlet/Brigantine bridge. Ideally Trump should look to purchase that land from MGM, tear down the Marina and build all over again (as also suggested by various gaming analysts). Two problems though. (1) Would MGM be willing to sell? (2) Does Trump Entertainment Resorts have the capital to undertake such a project? My own thoughts are mixed, but off the bat, I would say no to both of them.

One final note about the Marina. It was originally envisioned to have another hotel tower (possibly 1,000 more rooms or so??). In the early 1990’s Trump had proposed building it and even had design work on exterior and interior going on. It would have been a great addition to that property. Its base (casino, restaurants etc) could absorb that capacity and it would have provided AC with more desperately needed hotel rooms.

I can keep going on and on……

Some other notes:

The 3 possible casino additions that I mentioned DO NOT include a property by Wynn. I only wanted to include ones that are more definitive. Everyone knows Wynn wants to be back in AC. Speculation is that he is interested in developing Badar Field as was mentioned. This is an A+ site for a Wynn resort and could be one of the greatest casino development sites ever available. There are a few obstacles involving that site that would need to be ironed out still before gaming is considered (if you want to know them, I would be happy to discuss more).

In regards to a Toll Brother’s development…Bruce Toll recently purchased boardwalk property (former Playboy/Atlantis/Trump Regency/Trump World’s Fair site) to build a massive residential project (rumored). Further details at this time are not known, but rumors are circulating that he will announce something soon. My own feelings are that it could be one of the greatest casino sites in AC. How could this be accomplished with a non-casino land use restriction currently on the property (Trump put it on the property before it was sold to limit competition) may you ask? Well Trump himself envisioned purchasing the West Hall of Boardwalk Hall which I do not believe is protected by national landmark status (does anyone know?) and combining its footprint with that of Trump World’s Fair and constructing a massive new resort on that site. Similar to Trump Plaza, it would be ideally located at the foot of the AC expressway, adjacent to The Walk, on the beach & boardwalk and connected to Boardwalk Hall. It does not get much better than that. But as his company was taking a dive he cut a deal with shareholders to sell the Trump World’s Fair site and deliver proceeds from the sale to them as a condition to the company’s bankruptcy reorganization. So Toll bought the property which as I mentioned has a land use restriction that does not permit a casino. BUT WHAT ABOUT WEST HALL??? Toll has said that he would love to utilize West Hall in his development. Why not build a huge new casino/resort with the gaming portion limited to the footprint of the West Hall? My instincts tell me that this could be done, but my knowledge of the West Hall and the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority’s intentions (the West Hall’s owner) are limited. Anyone have this knowledge?

On Jet Blue. My only feeling is that AC International’s only real player (Spirit Airlines) flies to most of Jet Blue’s Florida destinations already. Jet Blue should come in and offer routs to the west (AC to Vegas???). I must say that Spirit seems very committed to AC International. They are a good airline that actually started out of AC International as a charter. Hopefully they can add more flights as they grow.

[STT757]

Trump, Wynn deal may be in the cards
Talks involve sale of A.C. casino
Tuesday, October 24, 2006

It seems Steve Wynn wasn't interested in just the Mets when he visited Donald Trump last week.

The Las Vegas casino king and the Atlantic City gambling mogul, prominently seen together behind home plate during the Mets' Game 7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night, were talking about a deal that would dramatically alter Atlantic City.

Two people with knowledge of the negotiations said Wynn wants to build a casino on the boardwalk, and his preferred site includes 12 acres where the Trump Plaza sits. The people spoke on the condition they not be identified because the talks are in the preliminary stage.

Although Wynn usually prefers dozens of acres of land for his huge gambling creations, he is drawn to the Plaza because of its prime location at the foot of the Atlantic City Expressway, the sources said. If a deal were to go through -- and the sources cautioned the negotiations could ultimately fall apart -- Wynn would tear down Trump's casino and build his own.

But Trump, whose name is on three Atlantic City casinos, wouldn't be scaling back on the seaside resort altogether. He is interested in building a residential tower in front of the Trump Taj Mahal. The deal also might include a swap for land that Wynn owns in Las Vegas, the sources said.

Gov. Jon Corzine, who was approached by Wynn in September, declined to comment yesterday. Wynn did not return calls seeking comment, and Trump spokeswoman Rona Graff said Trump insists that reports of a deal over the Plaza are "not true."

Sen. William Gormley, the powerful Republican who holds sway with the casino industry, said of the Trump-Wynn appearance at the Mets game: "They're two highly successful individuals, both of whom have meant a lot to Atlantic City.

"Given that we have a governor who understands Atlantic City and given two business people of their caliber, it would be great to see something happen," said Gormley, who has taken a lead role in ushering Wynn back to New Jersey after a decade-long absence. "It would be great for Atlantic City."

An agreement to sell any of the Trump casinos would have to be approved by Trump Entertainment Resorts' board of directors. Trump is chairman of the board and the company's largest single shareholder.

A deal between the two biggest names in the gambling business would solve problems for both casino bosses, industry observers said. Wynn, who once vowed never to return to A.C. when he sold the Golden Nugget in 1987, would gain a foothold in the country's second-largest gambling market and give his customers who live on or visit the East Coast a place to gamble.

Trump, who is under pressure from investors to diversify his casino holdings beyond Atlantic City, would get an influx of cash to invest elsewhere.

Trump Resorts has yet to report a profit since the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2005. Because all of its casinos are in Atlantic City, it was the hardest hit by the three-day government-imposed casino shutdown over the summer.

Trump Resorts is currently vying for a casino in Philadelphia, but it wants to expand beyond the Northeast. Last month, Trump Resorts announced it had hired Eric Hausler, formerly a casino analyst with Bear Stearns, as its senior vice president of development. His job: identifying "opportunities to expand the Trump brand," according to a company press release.

The problem is cash. The company needs to find a way to expand without taking on more debt. It emerged from Chapter 11 with $1.25 billion in debt and a $500 million line of credit.

"The thing with Atlantic City is that it's a pretty solid market, but it's a seasonal market," said Morgan Joseph analyst Adam Steinberg. "I'd like to see them diversify away from Atlantic City and doing it so they don't take on more leverage."

A big obstacle in the way of a sale of any of the casinos is that Trump has veto power over the transaction. If he waives his veto right, the company would give him up to $100 million in tax indemnification for personal tax liabilities he would incur from the sale.

Wynn, who has built some of the most recognizable casinos, from Bellagio to Wynn Las Vegas, first came to Atlantic City in 1980 when he opened the Golden Nugget, a slick trendsetting casino that lured high rollers and became home to Frank Sinatra. It quickly became one of the city's most profitable casinos. But Wynn left seven years later because of the state's harsh regulatory climate, vowing never to return to Atlantic City.

Wynn was close to returning to Atlantic City in the 1990s with plans for three casinos in the Marina District. His company, then called Mirage Resorts, signed a controversial deal with the state of New Jersey, which agreed to kick in $220 million toward a $330 million tunnel to the Marina District. Mirage subsequently was bought by rival MGM Grand, and only one casino, Borgata, has opened there.

More recently, Wynn has sent Richard "Skip" Bronson, a former Mirage director and Wynn's point man in A.C. in the 1990s, to scope out places in Atlantic City. Both men have been at Gormley's home to discuss potential sites. And last month Wynn traveled to A.C. for a private audience with Corzine to discuss prospective sites.

Tearing down the older casinos to build bigger more modern casinos hopefully is going to totaly reshape Atlantic City,for the better.