September 16, 2026
Jim Walsh/USA Today Network via Reuters Connect
Steel Pier, the roughly 5-acre amusement park property on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, is on the market for $85 million. The property is being promoted as a development opportunity for expansion further into the Atlantic Ocean. Above, a view of Steel Pier from beneath a decorative arch.
Atlantic City's Steel Pier amusement park is reportedly on the market for $85 million with the possibility of expansion touted as an enticement for interested buyers.
The oceanfront property, located on the boardwalk across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, covers about 5.2 acres and has existing permits that allow for its extension further into the Atlantic Ocean. The pier was constructed in 1897, originally hosting a theater before it grew into a carnival with rides and other attractions.
The listing was first reported Wednesday by the New York Post, which said the Catanoso family that has run Steel Pier since the early 1990s is looking to unload the property. The Catanosos had leased Steel Pier for years before purchasing it in 2011. Without a succession plan to manage the pier, the family reportedly has decided to sell it.
Steel Pier's peak years lasted from the 1920s through the early 1950s, when Atlantic City was a thriving entertainment and tourist destination. The pier was dubbed the "Showplace of the Nation," hosting performances by the likes of John Philip Sousa and Frank Sinatra. For a brief period in the 1930s, Steel Pier also was the official venue of the Miss America contest.
At one time, Steel Pier extended nearly 2,300 feet into the Atlantic Ocean as the venue's attractions grew. A fire in 1969 led to the destruction of about one-third of the pier, and other pressures caused its footprint to shrink over the ensuing decades. The pier now measures about 965 feet long and 150 feet wide, but the property has a perpetual riparian grant that permits development up to 2,850 feet in the Atlantic Ocean, NJ.com reported.
Listing agent Ryan Serhant described the Steel Pier as a rare opportunity for a developer to reinvent a landmark at the Jersey Shore. The property is zoned to allow hotel, entertainment and commercial redevelopment.
"How often does someone get to own a piece of the ocean? That's exactly what this offers," Serhant told the New York Post.
In the late 1980s, Steel Pier was acquired by Trump Entertainment Resorts as part of the purchase of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, now the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The property was slated to go up for auction in 2011 before the Catanoso family purchased it that year $4.25 million.
Steel Pier's main attractions today are its Crazy Crab and Loco Motion roller coasters. It also offers helicopter tours that lift off from the pier, a 240-foot-tall Ferris wheel, several waterfront bars and classic boardwalk fare. The Catanoso family renovated the pier's 40,000-square-foot front building and skybridge, built an office complex and made several other capital improvements during their years of ownership.
Steel Pier was approved for a condo and hotel entertainment complex in 2008, a project that never got off the ground but remains an option for potential buyers to pursue. The property's front building has an easement that could extend into the convention floor of the Hard Rock casino and the pier's total footprint is eligible to be expanded up to 25%.
Serhant told the New York Post his brokerage has already had conversations with prospective buyers.
"If you're a high-end, high-net-worth hospitality builder, I think Atlantic City is incredible value," Serhant said.
