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\tBy DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer
\n\tATLANTIC CITY \u2014 Carl Icahn has done what Donald Trump and Bob Guccione could not.<\/p>\n
\tThe billionaire investor and casino mogul has emerged as the mystery buyer for one of the most storied properties in Atlantic City.<\/p>\n
\tReal estate records show that Icahn subsidiary IEH Investments LLC paid $583,000 to acquire an old boarding home owned by the family of longtime Trump and Guccione nemesis Vera Coking.<\/p>\n
\tCoking, an elderly widow, made headlines for decades in her legendary fight to keep Guccione and then Trump from snatching her property at 127 S. Columbia Place for their casino projects.<\/p>\n
\tGuccione and Trump could never meet her asking price. In some circles, that made Coking an obstructionist, while others celebrated her tenacity in holding off two powerful businessmen who usually got what they wanted.<\/p>\n
\tBut don\u2019t expect the Coking house to remain standing for much longer under Icahn\u2019s ownership. Construction crews are removing asbestos from the three-story structure in advance of its demolition. Already, many of the windows are gone. The exterior has been wrenched off the house\u2019s ocean side, giving it a battered appearance.
\n\tCoking\u2019s property has stood in the shadow of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino for decades. Now, both the house and the casino are empty, giving Columbia Place a ghost-town atmosphere.<\/p>\n
\tThe financially troubled Trump Plaza closed on Sept. 16, one of four casinos to shut down this year amid Atlantic City\u2019s economic crisis. The bankrupt Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. owns Trump Plaza, but Icahn controls the company\u2019s debt, putting him in position to possibly seize the casino. Icahn has also been trying to grab control of the ailing Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, which has announced it will close down on Dec. 12.<\/p>\n
\tIcahn is one of the country\u2019s wealthiest people, with an estimated net worth of $25.7 billion. Among his holdings are the Tropicana Entertainment Inc. casinos nationwide, including the flagship Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City.<\/p>\n
\tIn buying the old Coking home, Icahn controls a prime piece of real estate only a half-block from the Boardwalk. If Icahn is also able to take ownership of Trump Plaza, he will be able to avoid the problems that bedeviled Donald Trump and Guccione in their failed attempts to buy out Coking across the street.<\/p>\n
\tFor now, Icahn is not revealing any plans he may have for the property. His attorney declined comment Monday. A message left at Icahn\u2019s New York office was not returned.
\n\tCoking\u2019s home was auctioned off in August. However, the buyer\u2019s identity was not disclosed at that time. Real estate records confirm that IEH Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises LP, acquired the property.<\/p>\n
\tNate Chait, Coking\u2019s Atlantic City real estate broker, speculated that Icahn could capitalize on any redevelopment plans for the area surrounding Trump Plaza. A governor\u2019s advisory commission that is studying ways to revitalize Atlantic City has discussed the possibility of demolishing Trump Plaza to create room for an expansion of The Walk, the city\u2019s popular shopping and entertainment district. Now concentrated at the foot of the Atlantic City Expressway, The Walk could be extended to the Boardwalk if Trump Plaza were no longer in the way.<\/p>\n
\tChait said the demolition of the old Coking home, followed by the possible razing of Trump Plaza, appears to be the first step in carrying out those redevelopment plans.
\n\t\u201cFrom what I heard, it would be demolished and incorporated into the extension of The Walk,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve talked about making it more of an entertainment area. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be a casino again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tFor years, Donald Trump had wanted to acquire the Coking home to clear out the surrounding block for Trump Plaza\u2019s expansion. In 1998, the property was the battleground for a high-profile eminent domain case pitting Trump\u2019s casino company and a state development agency against Coking. A New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled against Trump, saying that his attempts to use the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to seize Coking\u2019s home for casino expansion were illegal.<\/p>\n
\tThe Trump battle evoked memories of a headline-grabbing fight years earlier between Coking and another celebrity businessman, Penthouse magazine publisher Bob Guccione.
\n\t Coking refused Guccione’s reported $1 million offer for her house in the 1970s, so he began building the steel superstructure of the proposed Penthouse casino around her.<\/p>\n
\tGuccione ran out of money for his project and halted construction in 1980, but the rusting steel frame of the half-completed casino surrounded Coking\u2019s home. Finally, the old Penthouse hulk was torn down by Trump in 1993 after he bought the Guccione property for Trump Plaza\u2019s expansion.<\/p>\n
\tCoking and her husband Raymond, an engineer who died in 1967, bought the house in the 1960s for $20,000. Before the arrival of casino gambling in 1978 dramatically changed the city\u2019s landscape, the Coking house was part of a cluster of homes and small businesses in the Columbia Place neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\tCoking now lives in a retirement home in California, near her family. Chait said the sale of the old Coking home has finally brought all of the controversy to an end for the family.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey\u2019re private people. They wanted closure,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just got tired of the games. They wanted to put it behind them and move on.\u201d
\n\tThe $583,000 sale price was well below the house\u2019s nearly $5 million listing price in 2011. By the time the auction came up last August, the asking price had fallen to $995,000.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIn hindsight, you always want more. But I think they\u2019re happy to move on,\u201d Chait said of the Coking family.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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