The landmark amusement pier is being marketed as both an operating attraction and a redevelopment opportunity, with rights extending far into the Atlantic Ocean
ATLANTIC CITY — One of Atlantic City's most recognizable landmarks is officially up for sale, and what happens next could determine whether Steel Pier remains an amusement park or becomes something dramatically different.
Steel Pier has been listed for $85 million, putting the historic oceanfront attraction across from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on the market after 15 years under its current ownership. The roughly 5.2-acre property is being marketed not only as a functioning amusement pier, but as a potentially significant redevelopment opportunity.
Casino industry analyst Anthony Marino raised the Steel Pier sale Thursday on The Don Williams Show on News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND as he discussed a period of potential change for Atlantic City's casino and tourism industry.
“They've got the Steel Pier for sale now,” Marino said during a broader conversation about investment in the resort.
Marino also expressed skepticism that a buyer would view the property primarily as an opportunity to add another casino to a market that already has nine.
“I don't see anybody lining up to become the 10th casino in Atlantic City,” Marino said.
The newly released details surrounding the Steel Pier property help explain why its future could involve much more than another casino — or even an amusement park.
Much More Than the Existing Pier
Steel Pier currently extends approximately 965 feet into the Atlantic Ocean and is about 150 feet wide. It features amusement rides, games, food and beverage operations, helicopter tours and its large observation wheel.
But one of the most significant pieces of the sale is something visitors can't readily see.
The property comes with a perpetual riparian grant allowing potential development as far as 2,850 feet into the Atlantic Ocean, according to reports detailing the offering.
That's nearly three times the length of the existing pier.
The current footprint also could potentially be expanded by as much as 25%, while the approximately 40,000-square-foot building and skybridge at the Boardwalk entrance have an easement extending toward Hard Rock's convention level.
Listing agent Ryan Serhant characterized the unusual ocean rights as one of the property's primary selling points, telling the New York Post: “How often does someone get to own a piece of the ocean?”
A Condo-Hotel Was Already Planned Once
There is also precedent for something far different from the Steel Pier Atlantic City knows today.
The property received approvals in 2008 for a condo-hotel entertainment complex incorporating hotel, entertainment and commercial uses.
That project was never constructed.
The old proposal does not establish what a future buyer ultimately could or would build, but the property's redevelopment history is now being highlighted as part of the sale. Current reporting says the property is zoned for hotel, entertainment and commercial redevelopment.
Serhant told the New York Post that pursuing the condo-hotel concept would be his first thought if he were developing the site himself. His brokerage also said it has already had discussions with prospective buyers.
No buyer or specific new redevelopment proposal has been announced.
From $4.25 Million to an $85 Million Asking Price
The Catanoso family had operated Steel Pier for years before an ownership group including brothers Anthony, Charles and William Catanoso purchased the property for approximately $4.25 million in 2011.
The family subsequently made substantial improvements to the property, including work on the front building and skybridge, offices and infrastructure. The property was appraised at $87 million last year, listing agent Michele Zyska told the New York Post.
The $85 million asking price therefore shouldn't be interpreted simply as the same property increasing twentyfold in value since 2011. Both the property itself and the investment in it have changed substantially.
The family is now selling because the next generation has other interests rather than a plan to continue operating the pier, according to reports surrounding the listing.
For now, Steel Pier remains an operating amusement attraction. Its own website continues to promote rides, games, food, events, helicopter tours and the observation wheel.
Another Potential Change for Atlantic City
The listing comes as Marino sees Atlantic City's gaming market increasingly divided between its strongest-performing casino properties and those facing greater financial pressure.
During Thursday's interview, he grouped Borgata, Hard Rock and Ocean as the market's “three all-stars,” with the Caesars Entertainment properties in a middle tier and Bally's, Resorts and Golden Nugget facing more difficult financial conditions. That was Marino's assessment of the market, rather than a state classification of the properties.
Against that backdrop, Steel Pier represents something different: a valuable piece of Atlantic City real estate whose next owner wouldn't necessarily have to preserve its current use.
The pier has occupied a place in Atlantic City's entertainment history since 1898, eventually earning the nickname “Showplace of the Nation.” It hosted major entertainers, including Frank Sinatra and John Philip Sousa, and at its peak stretched roughly 2,300 feet into the ocean.
More than a century later, it is again at a crossroads.
An $85 million asking price doesn't mean Steel Pier is closing, nor does putting the property on the market mean redevelopment is inevitable. There is currently no announced buyer and no announced plan to eliminate the amusement park.
But for the first time in 15 years, one of Atlantic City's signature properties is available to someone with a very different vision for it.
And with development rights stretching much farther into the Atlantic than today's pier, the most important part of the Steel Pier listing may not be what stands there now.
It may be what a future owner could try to build there.
Anthony Marino discussed the Atlantic City casino industry and Steel Pier sale Thursday on The Don Williams Show, heard Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 a.m. on News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.
About the Author
Scott Stephens
Scott has been an on-air personality, producer and newscaster for 30+ years. He has been a mainstay in the South Jersey Community and on the air across many different area stations. Scott can currently be heard on Kool 98.3 and News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.
