\nWayne Parry, Associated Press <\/p>\n
\tATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) \u2013 Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein swept into Atlantic City on Wednesday and made a bold promise: His newly redone waterfront pier complex will soon be the city\u2019s top tourist attraction.<\/p>\n
\tBlatstein was deadly serious about his plan to convert the former Pier Shops into a music-themed entertainment center called \u201cThe Playground.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis plan can\u2019t fail,\u201d he said. \u201cIt won\u2019t fail. I\u2019ve never failed in my career. I\u2019ve never picked an area that failed to turn around. This will be the greatest success of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHis Tower Investments has done numerous retail, entertainment and mixed use projects in Philadelphia. He paid $2.7 million for the complex that cost $200 million to build.<\/p>\n
\tIts first floor will be modeled on Nashville\u2019s Music Row, Beale Street in Memphis and 6th Street in Austin, Texas. To be named \u201cT Street,\u201d It will include six live music venues. Its decorative water fountains will be ripped out and a performance venue called 39N will accommodate 2,000 fans. All told, there will be 14 music venues.<\/p>\n
\tA large beachfront concert venue, a bowling alley, a sports bar and retail shops are included, as well as space for private event rentals.<\/p>\n
\tBlatstein and his development partner, architect Paul Steelman, bought the complex last fall but ran into legal trouble with Caesars Entertainment, which owned the water rights underneath the pier. A deal involving back rent and future considerations was hammered out last month, allowing the project to go forward. Steelman said its first phase should be ready by July 4th weekend, with the rest ready around Christmas.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou need something else besides gambling,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the something else. This is a city that developed on the basis of entertainment from the 1880s through the casino revival. It\u2019s lost that entertainment feel, the 500 Club, Frank Sinatra playing all night long. We need to get back to that vibe and this building is perfect for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe complex also will feature an over-21, elevated pool high above the ocean. Many existing high-end retail shops will be retained at the new complex.<\/p>\n
\tThe fourth floor will be renovated for expanded private event rental space, including previously unused exterior space.<\/p>\n
\tBlatstein said the redevelopment will add 500 new jobs to the 400 existing jobs at the pier.<\/p>\n
\tMayor Don Guardian said the development is part of his city\u2019s ongoing transformation.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe know we don\u2019t want to be just a casino town,\u2019 said Guardian, whose city lost four of its 12 casinos last year. \u201cWe want to be part of the next phase.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBlatstein had another bold prediction.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI promise you this will become the Number One tourist attraction in Atlantic City,\u201d he said. \u201cI guarantee it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Posted by:<\/strong> Dr Crapology on April 3, 2015, 4:03 pm<\/p>\n Wayne Parry, Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) \u2013 Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein swept into Atlantic City on Wednesday and made a bold promise: His newly redone waterfront pier complex will soon be the city\u2019s top tourist attraction. Blatstein was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8801\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}