[toc]The Atlantic Club has been closed for several years. Now, the Atlantic City resort is not going to reopen as a casino. Instead, the dormant property is poised to become a water park.
What happened with AC’s Atlantic Club
Multiple media outlets reported on Monday that a company called R&R Development Group would be purchasing the former casino and turning it into a “non-gambling family resort” with an indoor water park. The name? Dolphin Village at Atlantic Club.
Other details that came out Monday:
- R&R will invest $135 million to the property
- The hotel accompanying the water park will have 300 hotel rooms.
- The casino floor will be a go-cart track; there will also be a large arcade on site.
- It will take just over a year for the project to be completed, once started.
The amount R&R paid for the property is not known.
What people were saying about Dolphin Village
The new resort was being hailed as more good news for Atlantic City.
More from the Press of Atlantic City, taking with R&R managing partner Ronald Young:
“The hotel will feature important restaurants and entertainment venues that will host many family-oriented activities and entertainment events year round,” Young said, adding the former Atlantic Club would become a “must-see” property again.
The Press of AC also reported that Young’s parter is Robert Reilert, who was once general counsel for Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
And from the Associated Press:
Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian said Young brought a group of investors to the city a year ago with plans for a water park that did not come to fruition.
“However, I believe that this new location and timing are much better to assure success,” Guardian said.
The backstory of Atlantic Club
The Atlantic Club was the first of the city’s casinos to close its doors, in what would become a string of many. The casino declared bankruptcy in 2013, and following a liquidation auction, the casino closed in early 2014.
Caesars eventually bought the property. The Press of AC reported previously that TJM Properties Inc. in Florida bought the shuttered resort in 2014 for $13.5 million from Caesars. The property also has a deed restriction placed on it by Caesars, meaning casino gaming cannot take place there for a period of time.
The earlier plans that fell through involved Atlantic Club being sold to Endeavor Property Group out of Pennsylvania. Endeavor’s plan was much like the current one from R&R.
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Great time for AC reinventing itself
There has been a lot of good news for AC in a short period of time, despite the fact that the city is in the middle of a state takeover because of its financial issues:
- Hard Rock AC is going to take the place of the shuttered Trump Taj Mahal.
- Showboat is doing well as just a resort; it has no casino gaming.
- Showboat owner Bart Blatstein has also bought some nearby property, with designs on redeveloping it.
It’s not clear if TEN AC — formerly Revel — will actually join these reopenings. Still, the reopening of Atlantic Club is the latest positive development in a town in need of some.
Image credit: Photo by Blue Diamond Photography used under license CC BY 2.0