Report: Blatstein Agrees to Buy Former Showboat Casino

Showboat Casino after it closed in 2014 (Photo: Dan McQuade)

Bart Blatstein has agreed to buy the former Showboat Casino in Atlantic City from Stockton University, NJBIZ is reporting. The casino, which closed in August 2014, was sold to Stockton University last year for use as a new island campus.

But Trump Entertainment Resorts enforced an old pact between the Trump Taj Mahal and Caesars, Showboat’s owner. That pact prohibited any use of the Showboat for anything but a casino. The collapse of the island campus led to the downfall of Stockton president Herman Saatkamp, which Philadelphia magazine’s Simon van-Zuylen Wood chronicled in a magazine article in March.

Stockton, which has its main campus in Galloway, acquired the property for $18 million. Stockton said late last month it was weighing several offers for the facility.

Blatstein is already in the process of re-developing The Playground (which had an underwhelming opening early this summer).

A call placed to Tower Investments, Blatstein’s company, was not returned. There will be legal issues with whatever goes into the old Showboat. When Caesars closed the still-profitable casino last year, it imposed a deed restriction saying the site could not be used for a casino again — directly contradicting the 1988 pact with Trump.