The Atlantic Club sale saga is finally over as the shuttered hotel and casino resort is understood to have switched ownership last week.
The Press of Atlantic City reports that Florida-based real estate firm TJM Properties has sold the former Atlantic Club Casino Hotel to Colosseo Atlantic City Inc., a New York-based investment and construction company.
A spokesperson for TJM told media that the sale of the property was finalized last week. No purchase price was revealed.
The Atlantic Club was the first of five Atlantic City casinos to close doors between 2014 and 2016. The property closed shop in January 2014. TJM purchased it four months after its closure for $13.5 million from its then owner Caesars Entertainment Corp.
Will Atlantic Club Reopen as Casino Resort?
Commenting on finally finding a buyer for the former hotel and casino complex, Matt Bradley, one of the TJM heads of development and operations who handled the recent sale of the property, said that they “have made every effort to find a buyer who could realize the potential of the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel” and that with its extensive experience in construction and redeveloping larger properties, they believe “Colosseo is the right company for the job.”
Colosseo principal Rocco Sebastiani said Tuesday that they are looking forward to restoring “such a great property.” He added that his company plans to operate the Atlantic Club as a non-gambling resort.
Once renovated, the property will operate as an 800-room hotel with new retail space and new food and beverage offerings. A deed restriction prevents the Atlantic Club from operating as a casino complex.
The Colosseo principal further elaborated that it was the challenge of turning around the property that he was drawn to. He said that the Atlantic Club needs a lot of renovation to be done and that “that’s what we do […] We buy assets that need a lot of work and bring them up to market.”
Of the sale and planned renovation of the Atlantic Club, Rummy Pandit, Executive Director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University, said that the reopening of the former hotel and casino resort would rejuvenate the Boardwalk area near the university’s Atlantic City campus.
According to Mr. Pandit, the Atlantic Club has amazing location and the area around it will certainly benefit from its future relaunch.
Failed Sale Deals
The Atlantic Club was on the verge of being sold on several occasions over the past five years, but a deal was never finalized until Colosseo expressed interest in the property and eventually purchased it.
In 2016, Pennsylvania-based Endeavor Property Group almost bought the shuttered casino complex, but the deal collapsed as the company was unable to secure funding. In another failed attempt for the property to be sold, Ventnor-based R&R Development expressed interest in acquiring the Atlantic Club and converting it into a family-friendly resort with a water park, among other attractions.
Last year, Stockton University was in talks to purchase the shuttered property and use its nine-level parking garage. The university would have demolished the rest of the hotel and casino resort, if it had acquired it.
Earlier this year, reports emerged that North American Acquisitions’ Jeffrey Smolinsky would purchase the Atlantic Club. It later on became known that TJM had canceled a notice to sell the property to Mr. Smolinsky and his company.
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