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BETTING ON A SEASIDE LAS VEGAS

Developers plan to make Atlantic City into a retail destination

By Donna Mitchell

Developers and public officials are working to bring retail and non-gaming entertainment to Atlantic City at last.

Developers can almost see it: A short hop from the Atlantic City Expressway in New Jersey, people are swarming through the streets at night. Some are taking in live concerts, others reveling in the dance clubs and comedy bars, and others still feasting in hip restaurants.

Most importantly, they shop, stuffing the trunks and back seats of their cars with bags full of quality goods from national retailers.

For those familiar with New Jersey’s dowdy gambling haven, it takes a leap of the imagination to associate it with quality shopping and a vibrant night life. But that is what developers have in store for the place, and they have unveiled plans for a variety of retail and entertainment projects.

Proponents are emphatic about Atlantic City’s capacity to become the dominant gaming and leisure destination in the region.

“Think of the proximity of Atlantic City to New York City and Philadelphia; you’ve got a huge teeming mass of people — 43 million within 300 miles,” said Lloyd Miller, vice president of leasing for Kravco Co., King of Prussia, Pa. The company is leasing retail space for The Quarter at Tropicana, one of the new projects. If people are not gambling or strolling along the boardwalk, they can shop for gifts, see shows and have a gourmet meal.

The Walk in Atlantic City and The Quarter at Tropicana are among a handful of planned non-gaming developments, most of which will be near the cluster of casinos at the boardwalk. Taken together, the projects will add 1 million square feet of retail, entertainment and restaurant space to the city over the next 10 years, said James Kennedy, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), a group that reinvests a portion of the casino’s revenues in housing and economic initiatives statewide.

Developers and public officials are understandably excited about the prospects of revamping Atlantic City. In 2000, the city’s 12 casinos raked in $4.3 billion in gaming revenue, according to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. But as it stands now, tourists come to gamble, and then go home. The time has come to augment Atlantic City’s gaming offerings with shopping and evening amusements, they say, and transform it into a well-rounded leisure destination like Las Vegas.

The Quarter will add roughly 210,000 square feet of new high-quality retail to the existing casino and hotel. Aztar Corp., Phoenix, which owns The Tropicana, is the developer. The company recruited MRA of Philadelphia, a creator of large-scale destination projects such as casinos and sports venues, to plan and oversee its development. Aztar expects to spend about $250 million on the addition, which will take up three city blocks heading inland from the boardwalk. It will include a 500-room hotel and multilevel parking garage. MRA hopes to break ground by May 2002 and open by March 2004.

Aztar will convert old buildings and a surface parking lot into three levels of heavily themed architecture styled after pre-World War II Havana, Cuba, replete with porticos, decorative railings and other features. Designers also are aiming to inject a sense of festivity into the project like that of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street which, Miller noted, explains the name. WATG Architects (Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo), Newport Beach, Calif., and Atlantic City-based Sosh Architects collaborated on the plan, said Chuck Bragitikos, a partner at MRA.

“We focused on creating a cluster of restaurants that were unique to the region,” Bragitikos said. To pull that off, the company is consulting with restaurateur luminaries such as Philadelphia-based Steven Star.

The restaurant and entertainment portions will drive the project, with retail playing a key supporting role; most of the shops will be on the second level of the development.

The shops themselves will be enclosed, arranged under high ceilings and an artificial sky, much like the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The ceiling in a main plaza will be more than 60 feet high, and there will be three major courtyard areas animated by so-called outdoor dining.

Several blocks uptown, The Cordish Co. is planning a 400,000-square-foot project called The Walk in Atlantic City. The Baltimore-based company specializes in developing urban mixed-use projects, having built the acclaimed Bayou Place in Houston and The Power Plant in Baltimore.

The Walk will include stores, hip restaurants, dance clubs and stand-up comedy venues, said Gary Block, vice president of The Cordish Co.

The $65 million project, designed by Baltimore-based Carter-Burgess Architects, will take up about 10 city blocks between the boardwalk and Arctic Avenue, lining Michigan Avenue with two-level stores. Cordish is considering manufacturer outlets for Timberland and Nautica, plus perhaps high-end stores. A trolley between the boardwalk and the convention center during shopping hours will help bring people and activity to that part of the city, Block said.

Cordish is planning to break ground on The Walk by year-end, and complete it for a spring 2003 opening. The company recently partnered with Harrah’s Entertainment of Las Vegas — owners of the Harrah’s and Showboat casino hotels — to designate the project as its non-gaming development, and qualify for Urban Revitalization Incentive Program tax rebates.

These projects and others result from legislative initiatives to advance Atlantic City’s renewal. The CRDA approved six non-gaming developments in early September that will be funded by tax rebates to the casinos under the Urban Revitalization Incentive Program, said Kennedy. In exchange for their participation, casinos are required to invest $20 million of their own money in redevelopments elsewhere in New Jersey. For instance, Aztar will invest $20 million in Parkside, a mixed-use development in downtown Newark (see story, A tale of two cities). Kennedy said each casino should get about $50 million in tax rebates for participating.

Public officials are convinced that with the two developments, and more on the way, Atlantic City’s image will be greatly improved. Mention “Atlantic City” and most conjure images of an urban blighted sea town neglected by a thriving casino industry. That image lags seven years behind reality, asserted Kennedy; officials have spent more than $1 billion on public works and commercial projects. For instance, they have transformed Boardwalk Hall into a 13,000-seat auditorium called East Hall; built about 250 residential units; constructed a 6,000-seat minor league baseball stadium; and this year they completed a new expressway.

Proponents say Atlantic City should be able to hold its own against entertainment fixtures such as Las Vegas, and compete with mid-market meeting cities such as Boston or Atlanta for convention business. For one thing, it is easily accessible from New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. To reach Las Vegas, almost everyone has to take an airplane.

“How much can a person take back on a plane?” Kennedy noted.

The CRDA has approved a handful of other projects:
• Caesars Atlantic City, owned by Park Place Entertainment, of Las Vegas, is planning to redevelop The Shops on Ocean One, a three-level, 200,000-square-foot mall that sits on the Million Dollar Pier, just off the boardwalk.

• Sands Casino is to build about 193,000 square feet of restaurant and neighborhood space around its casino hotel.

 

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