Bart Blatstein, a Philadelphia developer, has entered into a legal battle with Caesars Atlantic City. Mr. Blatstein is intending to redevelop the Pier Shops area but before achieving that, it seems he will have to overcome a serious setback. Caesars Atlantic City pretends that the developer is the “rogue occupier” of the Pier Shops.
Matters have already been taken to court. Mr. Blatstein was involved in legal proceedings with the president of Caesars Atlantic City, Kevin Ortzman who is the owner of the pier. In addition, Mr. Ortzman says that Blatstein is violating the laws.
Back in December 2014, Blatstein invested the impressive sum of $2.7 million into leasing the luxurious property. His plan was to transform it into an attractive venue offering abundant choice of entertainment options. He intended to make the area look like similar venues in Texas and Nevada.
According to the released information, the deal was completed on December 17th.
Despite the above-mentioned issues, the attorney of Mr. Blatstein says that his client “came down as a savior”.
In point of fact, the situation with the Pier Shops is not really optimistic. The aim of Caesars is to compensate for the losses from rents and taxes.
The bone of contention turned out to be the reluctance of Caesars to approve of the lease and the developer suspected that they are trying to generate great amounts from overdue rent.
What made Bart Blatstein particularly worried was the fact that now Caesars’ officials might literary steal his project. Mr. Ortzman is completely aware of the plan since he has a copy of it.
Yet, nobody suspected that Caesars’ executives would cause him any troubles.
Caesars entered the legal battle with the aim of restricting Blatstain from holding new conferences related to his plans.
What is more, Kevin Ortzman accused Blatstein of trespassing on Pier and even said that the developer has made threatening announcements to “blast” him in the media.
Needless to say, all these accusations were denied and Blatstein commented that the court filing submitted by Caesars was an indication that they are against his involvement in Pier’s affairs.
A court hearing took place yesterday and another one is set for Thursday. The attorney of Blatstein claims that Caesars’ actions against his client are not compatible with the Casino Control Act and that his client should not give up on his interests.
The attorney of Caesars, on the other hand, claims that Blatstein “has no right to be there”.
