Atlantic City Redevelopment Gathering Momentum: Study

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Atlantic City's redevelopment effort appears to be gathering momentum following a "lost decade" that featured the closing of five casinos, a housing crisis and major recession, according to a new report released Tuesday by the South Jersey Economic Review.

The analysis, which was conducted in conjunction with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University, noted that the fiscally-stressed city is on track with some positive developments including an early March decision by Hard Rock International to buy and reopen the closed Trump Taj Mahal property as well as a recent $72 million settlement with the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa over $165 million in owed tax refunds. Oliver Cooke, an associate professor of economics at Stockton, also cites other high profile projects underway including the reopening of the Showboat casino by developer Bart Blatstein and a $220 million public-private partnership for a new Stockton University satellite residential campus.

Despite his optimism, Cooke cautioned that Atlantic City still has a deep hole to dig itself out noting that the city's metropolitan area lost 25,300 jobs in the last decade. Atlantic City is saddled with $224 million in bond debt largely tied to casino property tax appeals. New Jersey's Local Finance Board voted to implement state intervention under the Municipal Stabilization and Recovery Act on Nov. 9 the city's five-year recovery plan was rejected.

"The fact remains that Atlantic City's redevelopment will take many years," Cooke said. "The impact of the local area's economy's lost decade on its residents' welfare has been stark."

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