The New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority has ruled that Carl Icahn’s Tropicana Entertainment is eligible for $5.6 million in casino reinvestment funding to demolish part of the former Trump Plaza casino In Atlantic City.
The entire demolition project is set to cost $13.2 million. Lawyers for Icahn said one of two hotel towers at the site will be torn down.
Though casino reinvestment taxes were redirected to help pay down Atlantic City’s municipal debt by law last year, funds collected before the change are still eligible to finance local development projects.
City officials see the re-opening of the Trump Plaza property—which sits at the center of the Boardwalk at the end of the Atlantic City Expressway—as vital to re-development in Atlantic City.
Robert Mulcahy III, authority chairman said the demolition could help attract new development at a prime location in the resort.
“We all feel the demolition of this tower is in the best interest of Atlantic City,” he said. “It’s part of the gateway into the city. That land could be very valuable.”
Outgoing Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian—who sits on the CRDA board—voted against the measure and wondered why Icahn would need assistance to demolish the site.
“I agree this project needs to come down,” said the mayor, who leaves office in January. “But why are they asking us for $5.6 million? You’re already responsible for the project closing and the loss of jobs and the suffering the city has gone through.”
Joining Guardian in his opposition to the funding is New Jersey’s Senate president Steve Sweeney. “Carl Icahn is no friend to Atlantic City and he has a record of harsh treatment of working people,” Sweeney told the Associated Press. “I have serious questions about allowing him to take $5.6 million in funds intended to promote economic development for the city and its residents and instead use the money for his own property. He has a track record as a profiteer who denies fair pay and benefits to workers.”
Sweeney is calling on the CRDA to reject the partial funding of the demolition. This is not the first time the Senator has taken on the billionaire. Soon after Icahn shut down the Taj Mahal casino due to a union labor dispute, Sweeney authorized a bill that would have punished Icahn for his business practices by stripping him of a casino license for the property for five years.
The bill passed the Democratic-controlled state Legislature, but was vetoed by Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
Trump Plaza closed in September 2014 and was later acquired by Icahn out of bankruptcy. Icahn has sold the Taj Mahal casino to Hard Rock International, which plans to open a new resort in 2018.
