A deal that would have transformed the Atlantic Club casino into a massive water park has fallen apart. This leaves another big hole on the Atlantic City boardwalk and postpones the developer’s dreams of turning AC into a more family-friendly destination.
Word of the failed deal began circulating last week when it became clear that a group of New Jersey investors, led by investor Ronald Young, had failed to secure financing for the deal.
Young and his associates, mostly NJ locals, were looking to nail down $135 million in an effort to turn the former casino into a massive water park. Their efforts, it was hoped, would bring a flood of locals and families back to the struggling seaside casino town.
Unfortunately Young, by his own account, tried to close the deal too quickly. In an interview with the Associated Press, he said the deal wasn’t done just yet:
I made a bad decision to sign a contract to close a deal in 60 days, Try to close on a house in 60 days. I’m meeting all this week and next week to make a deal to go back and get The Atlantic Club. I’m not quitting. I’ll do whatever it takes to make this deal.
This is not, oddly enough, the first time that an attempt to turn the Atlantic Club casino into a water park has fallen through. Last year a similar deal, from Pennsylvania developers, fell through in a similar manner.
For the time being, the property will remain vacant…at least until the next water park deal comes along.