Bart Blatstein’s latest big thing for Atlantic City is a massive outdoor gym and club on the Boardwalk. It hasn’t opened yet.

ATLANTIC CITY — Like everything Bart Blatstein gets his hands on, the giant outdoor gym rising adjacent to Showboat Hotel on the Boardwalk has been an object of intense speculation.

On social media, one poster said it “gives the vibe of an attempt to capture the outdoor workout pit of Venice Beach.”

Others noted the beginning of the salt air affects on the equipment and the imported palm trees (a little rust, a little browning), and the wisdom of an outdoor gym in a summer beach town, especially when it’s already August and the thing still isn’t open.

Like the debut of the Island Water Park that preceded it at Showboat, the July 26 grand opening of the much hyped 150,000-square-foot Fusion Gym & Beach Club has been delayed.

Fusion Gym owner Tony Chowdhury is promising big things when it does open. Approvals from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and a certificate of occupancy from the city delayed the opening but are in the works.

The marble-wrapped club will have seating for 750, DJ booths, basketball and pickleball courts, bars, a beer garden, and a cedar sauna inside a shipping container. There will be VIP seating and an outdoor kitchen.

The section up front has freestanding machines, exercise equipment, and weights on artificial turf just waiting for the masses to flex in front of passersby on the Boardwalk. (The distinctive marble looks suspiciously identical to that found elsewhere at the Showboat).

“I turned my dream into a reality,” Chowdhury posted on Instagram, showing the initial drawing he made of the garden of gym equipment and beach club seating.

Elsewhere at Showboat, the Island Water Park appears to have settled into a busy enterprise that most observers think is succeeding.

On Tuesday, there were nine busloads of campers from North Jersey for a private buyout until 2 p.m., and then a steady stream of people buying tickets for the afternoon. The outside windows and retractable roof were open to a cloudy sky and tickets were $59.

Blatstein doesn’t seem too worried about the timing issues of Fusion’s venture, whether it will open in time to take advantage of this year’s summer season. He declined to discuss the details of his arrangement with Chowdhury, describing himself as “the landlord.”

Blatstein seems bullish on Atlantic City and his investments, which he thinks is (finally) ready to pop.

And why not? Atlantic City and the state of New Jersey remain bullish on Blatstein. The city approved a five-year tax break for Showboat, despite separate tax-delinquency issues.

The state Economic Development Authority gave him a $4.2 million revitalization grant to help with expansion of family entertainment at the Showboat, despite issues with owing money to contractors, one of whom, an electrical contractor, obtained an arrest warrant to get Blatstein to pay up. (He did.)

Other than a bowling alley, which is a definite, Blatstein says his plans for the $4.2 million are still under development, and could include a new open-air entryway and expansions of his popular Lucky Snake Arcade and indoor go-cart racetrack.

Elsewhere at Showboat, he has converted 544 hotel rooms into 255 apartments, all rented. “I have a waiting list,” he said. “Eighty percent of the housing stock in Atlantic City was built before 1979.”

He is comparing his investment in Atlantic City to the early days of his investment in Northern Liberties, starting with the Schmidt’s Brewery in 2000, which sparked a neighborhood renaissance.

“The infrastructure is there,” Blatstein said in an interview this week. “The inlet [the neighborhood near Showboat] is going to be explosive. Oh my God. I’ve been doing this 47 years. It absolutely will.”

He said he’s spreading the word, giving tours to Philly developers, and pities “any developer that doesn’t recognize that this is the greatest opportunity in our region, the most undeveloped land in a coastal town in America.”

“There are 200 restaurants in Atlantic City!” he enthused.

The energetic Chowdury, Blatstein’s partner in hype who says he made his first million by 25, scouring the area for empty spaces to create his gyms, calls the Fusion Gym’s Atlantic City project “the first fitness resort in the entire world.”

He’s flooded his Instagram accounts with excited tours of the property, which previously had volleyball courts, all of which were leading to a grand opening that got abruptly canceled. Fusion Gym has other locations in Northeast Philly, Fairless Hills, South Philly, and Warminster. Memberships are $99 a month, with discounts for first responders.

In the interim, he’s been dealing with the more mundane issues of zoning approval from the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and certificates of occupancy from the city.

This week, he was not on social media, but he was in Atlantic City, giving a tour of the property to a select group. He said he had no time to talk or be photographed (he canceled a previously arranged meeting with The Inquirer), and neither he nor Blatstein would give a new opening date.

Andrew Kramer, a spokesperson for the City of Atlantic City, said the CRDA has approved zoning for everything but the shipping containers.

The city is now working with Fusion Gym on getting them a Certificate of Occupancy for the outside area, “so they can operate for now without those containers.”

Atlantic City remains a vexing yin-yang of progress and stagnation, vibrancy and decay, but there are signs a breakthrough may be on the horizon.

Four prominent development sites have had some forward movement:

Blatstein, whose competing idea for a residential development for Bader Field was disregarded, has still not yet bought into the F1 concept for Bader Field. (His short-lived concept was the star of a recent Daily Mail story).

Meanwhile, Blatstein still owes $25 million to his principal lender on the water park, William “Billy” Procida.

But Procida is optimistic about the water park and about Blatstein’s vision.

“When you look at Northern Liberties, the guy has vision,” Procida said. “When he called to talk to me about [the water park], I told him he was crazy. When he convinced me to finance it, people told me I was crazy. But now it’s open, it’s spectacular, and people are enjoying it.”

Blatstein’s optimism about Atlantic City might be catching on, despite the city’s lagging behind other towns during the recent Shore real estate boom spurred by COVID and remote work. (A waterfront penthouse in once down-and-out Asbury Park recently sold for $7.6 million.)

As one prominent developer in Philadelphia noted, “There are nice neighborhoods. There is nowhere else to build at the Shore.”