Atlantic City’s Bader Field RFP Deadline Extended

Andrew Calvo | December 24, 2008 | 0 Comments

Even in this credit crisis of doom and gloom – especially in the casino industry, some are hopeful for future development; the City of Atlantic City being one of them. Not only from the tax revenue and jobs that the casinos currently provide – but also for the future growth of the city.

There are small pockets of land available in different areas of the city – North of the Revel Casino construction site on the boardwalk, directly across the street from the Borgata, between the bay and the Trump Marina, south of the AC Hilton, and a small pocket of land south of the Convention Center where the Trump World (Regency) used to be located. But the biggest site (and potentially most desirable) is Bader Field - the former airport which was one of the first International Airports in America.

Bader Field Is located toward the bottom left- the boardwalk runs along the bottom right and you can just make out the Borgata’s parking garage on the top right.

I’ve had the pleasure of flying into Bader Field a number of times – in the last few decades since the opening and expansion of the Atlantic City International Airport (ACY), Bader Field has slowly gone into obscurity. Just prior to its closing its main traffic was small single engine planes – even the private lear jets of AC’s high rollers preferred to go to ACY even though it was a good 15-20 minutes away from Atlantic City where as Bader Field was located right within the city.

When the airport closed the city government made it clear that they intended for the place to go to casino development – Steve Wynn reportedly looked at it and is interested in using it for his comeback into Atlantic City, other major casino companies – Penn National and MGM have all made inquiries into the site. But nothing has been official until just recently when Atlantic City started taking RFP’s for the development of the property. The goal was to sell the land for hundreds of millions of dollars with an upfront payment to the city which will help them in their time of need.

Unfortunately – the city never really considered that the economy and credit crisis may soften any interest from developers – especially for such an expensive and potentially game changing development. Just last week they decided to extend the deadline for the RFP’s for another 6 months because, as I understood it, they did not receive one RFP. Not one RFP for the most valuable piece of undeveloped land in Atlantic City.

That says a lot for the city and the casino companies. For the city it says they underestimated the casinos – apparently they thought the casino companies would be rushing to knock down the doors to bid on the project – figuring that even a credit crisis, economic downturn, and overall declining casino revenue for the first time in years would have no affect. For the casino companies it says that the climate has gotten so bad that they aren’t even willing to entertain a project at this time. Not even a lowball bid offer.

Personally – I’m also very surprised that the casino companies did not jump all over this. Property like this does not come often, and when its gone – its gone forever. Perhaps the terms of the RFP were to stringent? Perhaps it came along with some strings attached such as requiring a large down payment if the RFP was accepted?

Its interesting because I don’t see this property going to anything else except a touristy/resort type development. No shopping malls, office buildings or housing developments here! Just the ability for those gaming companies who have been looking to get into AC for a long time.

We’ll see how this pans out. I’ll keep an eye on it and report back here if I find anything of significance.

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