January 05, 2016
The once-elegant sixth casino to open in Atlantic City — and first to fold in 2014’s meltdown of the industry — remains in limbo.
The Atlantic Club property’s most recent owner, TJM Properties of Florida, has announced a development plan had failed to attract investors.
The property has more aliases than a Pacific Avenue streetwalker — Golden Nugget when it opened, then Bally's Grand, Atlantic City Hilton, ACH and finally Atlantic Club.
Endeavor AC LLC, an Ambler company, had planned a conference and even facility, as well as shops and restaurants.
But TJM said Endeavor "was not able to generate the additional deposit funds" required for its plan.
Still, Dale Schooley, director of acquisitions for TJM, believes a new plan could develop fairly quickly.
He said his company got three inquiries just today — two from groups that had previously shown an interest in the property.
The former casino began life in December, 1980, not exactly Atlantic City’s best time of the year.
The old Golden Nugget — there is a casino in the marina section of the city now that goes by the same Golden Nugget moniker — was small and had the second-fewest table games, but by the end of 1981 it ranked fourth in the city for revenues.
By 1983, it was the top-performer in the city, known for top-self entertainers, including Frank Sinatra and its owner, Steve Wynn, who famously rewarded each of his managers with a brand-new car to reward them for their performance.
Wynn cashed out in 1987, selling for $440 million.
Ownership turned over like a game of three-card-Monte and the casino closed on Jan. 13, 2014, and has remained shuttered since.
It was the first of four casinos to close in Atlantic City that year.
Requests for comment to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which had promised money to the water park project, the mayor’s office, the city councilman representing that neighborhood and Endeavor did not respond to requests for comment.
