George Norcross and family buy former Trump Plaza site in Atlantic City

South Jersey Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III, his two children and other business partners have bought the vacant oceanfront site of the former Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, according to several outlets. Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. announced the purchase Wednesday, CBS Philadelphia reported.

WHYY put the price at $5 million for the roughly 10-acre property. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Atlantic County records show three sales tied to the site at 2201 Boardwalk recorded on Sept. 3, for about $5.04 million, $1.26 million and $349,541. The seller was billionaire Carl Icahn, according to the Inquirer, which said an Icahn subsidiary bought the casino in December 2018 for $3 million. 6abc reported that Icahn took control of the property through bankruptcy proceedings in 2016.

Norcross spokesman Daniel Fee confirmed the purchase and said development plans would be announced later, WHYY reported. Small did not disclose any plans, the Inquirer said.

The mayor said the site will not become a casino because no additional casinos are permitted in the city, according to CBS Philadelphia, 6abc and the Inquirer. WHYY reported that a 10-year deed restriction against a casino is no longer in effect, but that analysts consider another casino unlikely. "I think the overall gambling market has probably reached a peak," Stockton University finance professor Michael Busler told WHYY.

Busler and John Boyd Jr. of the site selection firm The Boyd Company told WHYY that a hotel to draw larger conventions or a mixed-use project are the most likely options. Boyd called the price a strong deal for an oceanfront parcel, while noting it reflects the property's distressed condition and that redevelopment costs remain.

Small welcomed the sale. "This is the definition of investor confidence," he told the Inquirer. Norcross and his family previously bought a controlling interest in the city's Formica bakery in 2022, WHYY reported.

Alyssa Maurice of Stockton University's William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy told WHYY that some residents may view Norcross's role in Camden's redevelopment as mixed, saying its economic gains were not evenly shared. WHYY noted that Norcross was indicted by state prosecutors on racketeering charges that were later dismissed. The Inquirer disclosed that Norcross recently filed a defamation lawsuit against it.

Trump Plaza, one of three Atlantic City casinos once owned by President Donald Trump, opened in 1984 and closed in 2014, the Inquirer reported. Its main 39-story tower was imploded in 2021. The Inquirer said a former casino tower, a parking garage and an operating Rainforest Cafe remain on the site, which sits next to Boardwalk Hall.

Compiled by True News from reporting by WHYY, CBS Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Inquirer and 6abc Action News. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/353