Blatstein to pay Stockton $1M more for Showboat
Developer Bart Blatstein will pay an additional $1 million to Stockton University for the former Showboat casino property in Atlantic City, the school announced Monday.
Developer Bart Blatstein will pay an additional $1 million to Stockton University for the former Showboat casino property in Atlantic City, the school announced Monday.
Settlement was originally scheduled for Monday. Instead, Stockton announced last week that it had agreed with Blatstein's Tower Investments to a two-month extension.
The delay, to Jan. 15, will have tax benefits for Tower, the university said, and Blatstein essentially agreed to pass some of that on to Stockton.
Stockton trustees approved an amended sale agreement Monday, under which the Philadelphia-based developer will pay $23 million for the casino and hotel site, up from $22 million.
Stockton bought the property in December for $18 million, then saw the collapse of its plans to convert it into a residential "Island Campus" for thousands of students. The university has been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars each month for upkeep at the property.
In addition to raising the price, Blatstein agreed to cover the Showboat's carrying costs for the additional two months - $1.1 million.
"The new agreement is positive for Tower Investments and its CEO, Bart Blatstein, and for Stockton University," Harvey Kesselman, Stockton's interim president, said in a statement.
Reached by phone Monday evening, Blatstein declined to comment on the postponement, saying only that he loved Atlantic City and the Showboat property. He called the purchase "the bargain of a lifetime."
Blatstein has not said what he plans to do with the building, though he describes it and other investments in Atlantic City as being part of the embattled resort's renaissance.
Kesselman talks in similar terms about Stockton's role in the city. Atlantic City's economy has suffered through the decline of the casino industry there.
Stockton's purchase of the Showboat was supposed to help anchor a movement to diversify the local economy. Instead, those plans were snared in a legal thicket.
Among the issues Stockton faced were contradictory restrictions on the site's use and the bankruptcy of Caesars Entertainment, which sold Showboat to the university. An agreement to sell the property to Florida developer Glenn Straub fell apart and led to ongoing litigation.
856-779-3220 @elaijuh