Beach City abandons 10,000 homes for F1-style race track development
The idea to take over the abandoned city-owned airport, which shut down in 2006, first started in 2022 when Bart Blatstein, the CEO of Tower Investments, Inc. and owner of Showboat Atlantic City, said his company and Atlantic City would collaborate to create a massive residential community. The proposed $3 billion development, dubbed 'Casa Mar,' was set to be built on 140 acres with 10,000 residential units, 20 acres of trails, amenities and parks and 400,000 square-feet of retail and office space - but that plan has since been wiped.
Instead, a 2.5-mile racetrack, headed by real estate development company Deem Enterprises, will take its place. The massive raceway, said to be a 'game changer' by Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. (pictured), is expected to take six to nine years to complete. It will be surrounded by retail businesses and condominiums in the community that is home to beaches, a bustling boardwalk and casinos. 'We're more confident than ever that we have the funds, Small Sr., an Atlantic City native who has been in office since 2019, told NJ Advance Media. [DEEM] has been vetted, and just getting a $3.4-plus billion project on the ratable base is a complete game changer.'
While the mayor, who was embroiled in a child abuse scandal involving his wife and daughter last year, and other government officials are thrilled about the new plan, Atlantic City locals are not happy with it. 'Atlantic City leadership is so desperate that they will support any development offer no matter how stupid it is,' a Facebook user wrote. Another said: 'What a joke! Want to really do something with the land? Dig canals and sell off lots and watch the ratepayers flood in!' 'Building that into a racetrack has to be the dumbest idea in the world,' someone else posted.
Blatstein told the outlet three years ago that he saw room for growth in the beach city after realizing that other Garden State beach towns have booming populations compared to Atlantic City. 'So what really is needed here is a new plan, a new way of living, a new opportunity for people to come to Atlantic City,' Blatstein said.
DEEM Enterprises, a Los Angeles and Atlantic City-based company, first announced the proposal in February of that year. The company has a tentative deal with the city to sell the vacant airfield for $100 million in exchange the real estate developer would donate $15 million for a community center. 'We don't have a recreation center of our town,' Small Sr. explained. 'We use the schools and different things like that.' Daily Mail contacted Mayor Small Sr. and DEEM Enterprises for comment.
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