Numerous casinos have been planned for Atlantic City, New Jersey but never opened.
In November 1976, New Jersey voters approved a referendum that legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City, and when the Casino Control Act of New Jersey was signed by the governor on June 2, 1977, Atlantic City became the first place in the U.S., outside of Nevada, with legalized casino gambling. A rush of investors announced plans to build hotel-casinos. However, a lack of available financing, along with legal issues such as zoning, licensing, and environmental regulations, ended most of these plans. Most of them stopped in the planning stage; only a few, such as the Dunes and the Penthouse, entered construction. Many of the proposed projects were announced with major publicity efforts but died quietly.
American Land Company In July 1978, American Land Company, headed by Steven Silverberg, announced plans to build a hotel-casino in the marina area, named The Marina Casino. However, later that year, he faced charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading investors in the project. He later sold an option on the land for the project to MGM Grand Hotels.Ambitious Casino Plans Outlined by Silverberg New York Times July 18, 1978American Land Chief Accused New York Times December 27, 1978Developer's Jersey Plans New York Times June 9, 1980
American Motor Inns and Great American Industries In June 1979, a joint venture to construct a hotel-casino in the marina area was announced by American Motor Inns, Inc. and Great American Industries.Joint Venture Set on Casino-Hotel New York Times June 22, 1979Jersey To Refuse To License Casinos Imperiling Housing in Atlantic City New York Times August 30, 1979How a $37,600 Dump Site Grew To $20 Million Value New York Times June 17, 1980
Atlantic Beach Resort & Casino In 2006, AC Gateway LLC, headed by Wally Barr and Curtis Bashaw, purchased a number of properties near Albany Avenue and the Boardwalk in order to build a hotel-casino. These properties included the former Dunes and Sahara projects, along with the former Atlantic City High School site.The AC Gateway Project : Wally Barr and Curtis Bashaws Plans For The Dunes, Sahara Atlantic City and Old Atlantic City High School. December 10, 2007. atlanticcitytripping.com A plan for a $1.5-billion mega-casino called the Atlantic Beach Resort & Casino was unveiled in 2008. The project was suspended in 2009 due to the economic downturn. The project was later revived in 2011 as the proposed Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
Atlantic Land Limited Atlantic Land Limited opened an office near New York Avenue in 1979, proposing to build a 31-story hotel-casino. However, by the next year, the office was closed.Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America by Bryant Simon p. 192
Atlantis In May 1977, Edward Sims announced that his investor group would develop a hotel-casino, called the Atlantis, in the marina area. (This was no relation to the Atlantis Hotel and Casino, which was renamed from the Playboy Hotel and Casino in 1984.) In 1978, a portion of the land they owned was sold to Harrahs, contingent on getting it rezoned. However, the rezoning was refused and the sale was cancelled. In 1980 the investor group announced that the property was to be sold to American Motor Inns.Shore Casino Complex Proposed Associated Press Reading Eagle May 11, 1977 Union Leaders Call For the Ouster of State Official in Casino Dispute New York Times May 11, 1977MGM, Hilton Plan Two Casino Hotels Toledo Blade October 11, 1978
Benihana Hotel-Casino / Carnival (or Carousel) Club Hotel Casino The Shelburne Hotel (Atlantic City) was leased to Japanese investors Rocky Aoki, owner of the Benihana restaurant chain, and Takashi Sasakawa, who planned to keep the existing hotel as well as add a 31-story tower and casino calling it the Benihana Hotel-Casino. In 1983 work crews began to renovate the hotel, however, disagreements between the Malmut family (owners of the hotel), the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, and outside investors led Akoi and Sasakawa to abandon the project after investing over $25 million in construction and renovations. Sasakawa was the son of noted Japanese fascist and philanthropist Ryoichi Sasakawa, who had links with the Yakuza. Aoki and Sasakawa had also faced charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading in the stock of Hardwicke Companies, which had planned to manage the hotel/casino.
After the Benihana Hotel-Casino project stopped, the Shelburne Hotel (Atlantic City) was acquired in 1984 by Blumenfeld Development Corp. and the hotel was demolished. The company applied for a casino license on July 23, 1985. In 1986 a groundbreaking was held for the intended construction of the Carousel Club Hotel Casino. (It was originally called the Carnival Club Hotel Casino, but the name was changed after Carnival Cruise Lines sued them.) However, the company did not obtain sufficient financing and after foreclosure the property was sold to Bally's Manufacturing Corp., which built Bally's Wild Wild West Casino in 1997.
Caesars Palace Atlantic City In June 1977, Caesars World Inc. leased the site where the Traymore Hotel had once stood. (The hotel was imploded in 1972.) They planned to build Caesars Palace Atlantic City on the site. However, when the opportunity came about in June 1978 to lease the Howard Johnson's Regency Motor Hotel and use the existing facilities to more quickly build a hotel-casino complex, the Traymore site project was put on hold. The Boardwalk Regency opened in June 1979. The company applied for a license on January 8, 1980, for the Caesars Palace Atlantic City project but never built anything on the site. The land was later sold to Pinnacle Atlantic City for a proposed hotel-casino. However, that project also fell through.Caesar's On Move To East Reading Eagle June 3, 1977
Camelot Hotel/Casino See entry for Camelot Hotel/Casino.
Captain Starn's Restaurant Captain Starn's Restaurant was a popular restaurant located at Maine Avenue, Caspian Avenue and the Boardwalk, by the Absecon Inlet. The owners were approached twice by potential investors to buy the land for a hotel-casino, the first time by Meister Associates and the second time by Edward Wong. Caesars later took an option on the site and tried to swap it with the United States government for the site of the United States Coast Guard station in the marina area, but were turned down.Casino Status Proves a Burden New York Times August 16, 1981Booming Jersey Casinos Seek Sites For Branches New York Times July 3, 1983
Casino by the Sea / Royale Vista In June 1978, Levin Computer Corporation, along with Hotel Associates, announced plans to develop a hotel-casino in the marina area named Casino by the Sea. Levin Computer had briefly owned the Bonanza Casino in Las Vegas. Levin later offered a leasehold interest in the property to Cavanaugh Communities Corp.Levin Discloses Casino-Hotel Plans New York Times June 22, 1978New Casino Hotel Due New York Times June 29, 1978Cavanagh wins some time The Miami News November 2, 1979
In 1979, Cavanaugh Communities Corporation, a Florida land sales company, planned to develop a hotel-casino in the marina area called the Royale Vista. However, the land was sold to Resorts Casino Hotel in 1983, after a Cavanaugh subsidiary filed bankruptcy.Cavanagh to sell land for casinos The Miami News April 16, 1980Resorts Acquiring New Casino Site New York Times August 21, 1983
Chalfonte Hotel – Holiday Inns Holiday Inns purchased the Chalfonte Hotel from Resorts Casino Hotel in 1979, intending to demolish the hotel and develop a new hotel-casino. However, in 1981, they announced that the development was postponed and eventually the project was cancelled.Property Shift Due at Resort Reading-Eagle September 20, 1979Casino Plans Delayed by Motel Firm Spokesman-Review January 19, 1981
Colonial Commercial Corp. / King International Corp. Colonial Commercial Corp. was a company that made cement and blue jeans. In 1979, King International Corp., which operated a hotel-casino in Aruba, acquired an option to purchase some land from Trans-Expo Inc. Colonial Commercial then acquired the option from King International, with which it planned to merge, and later exercised the option. Colonial filed bankruptcy in 1982 and gave the land back to Trans-Expo, which held the mortgage.Hints of Stock Manipulation New York Times June 25, 1979Colonial Sets Property Accord New York Times August 12, 1982Casino-Hotel Planned New York Times July 20, 1979Colonial Leisure in Atlantic City Deal New York Times September 13, 1979
Context Industries and Terminal Industries In June 1979, Context Industries, Inc. announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with Terminal Industries, Inc. to develop a hotel-casino.Context in Accord for Casino Project New York Times June 8, 1979
Dunes Hotel and Casino (Atlantic City) See entry for Dunes Hotel and Casino (Atlantic City).
First Artists Production Company In October 1977, First Artists Production Company confirmed reports that they were negotiating for potential hotel-casino properties in Atlantic City. The company was partly owned by entertainers Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, Steve McQueen, Sidney Poitier and Dustin Hoffman. The property mentioned was the Holiday Inn, which was sold a few months later to Penthouse for its Penthouse Boardwalk Hotel and Casino project.Notes on People New York Times October 29, 1977High Rollers The Miami News November 1, 1977
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (Atlantic City)
Hard Rock International announced plans in 2010 to build a $300-million casino in partnership with Och-Ziff Real Estate on the Boardwalk at Albany Avenue, at the site previously proposed for the Atlantic Beach Resort & Casino. It was proposed under the state's recently enacted "boutique casino" law, which allowed up to two casinos to be opened with a minimum of 200 hotel rooms, instead of the usual 500 rooms. The first phase of construction would have included 208 hotel rooms and of gaming space; a second phase would follow with an additional 642 rooms and of gaming space. Other features would have included a beachfront Hard Rock Cafe, other upscale restaurants, bars, a rock-and-roll museum, a spa, and beach cabanas.
Construction was planned to begin by July 2012, with an opening date in 2014, but the schedule was pushed back because of delays in the permitting process. Hard Rock dropped the project in September 2012 because market conditions in Atlantic City, including poor results at the newly opened Revel casino, made it very difficult to secure financing. The company would later return to the city in 2017 with its purchase of the shuttered Trump Taj Mahal and planned renovation of the property as a Hard Rock casino.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City opened June 28, 2018.
Kissane-Leddy In 1977, William Kissane and John Leddy, announced that they were seeking to lease land in the marina area to develop a hotel-casino. In 1980, they had their land surveying licenses suspended.Atlantic City – Still No Casinos New York Times December 18, 1977Degnan v. William C. Kissane and John H. Leddy
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