Trump Plaza Implosion Scheduled for Next Month, New Auction Begins

Posted on: January 21, 2021, 01:38h. 

Last updated on: January 21, 2021, 02:06h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Trump Plaza in Atlantic City is scheduled for demolition on February 17. The building has been vacant since 2014.

Trump Plaza Atlantic City casino resort
Seen here in 1994 outside his Trump Plaza, the last casino to bear Donald Trump’s last name will come down next month. Atlantic City officials are celebrating with an implosion viewing party. (Image: AP)

Conceived by former President Donald Trump, the Boardwalk casino resort opened in May of 1984. It closed in September of 2014 and has sat vacant since.

Trump departed DC this week after serving one term. Two days after Presidents’ Day next month, the ex-president’s former casino will fall.

It will ceremonially mark the end of Trump’s casino career. Neither the billionaire nor his family have been involved in the gaming industry for many years.

The building has been crumbling in recent years, and the towering structure has been a stark reminder of the region’s economic difficulties over the past decade-plus. The implosion includes the resort’s original 39-story hotel and casino. The smaller north hotel tower will remain, as will the rear parking garage across Pacific Avenue.

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. today announced the February 17 implosion date.

End of Trump Entertainment Resorts

Carl Icahn took control of Trump Entertainment Resorts (TER) in 2016. It hasn’t been the billionaire corporate raider’s best bet.

Icahn’s acquisition of TER included two properties, both in Atlantic City. Along with the shuttered Trump Plaza, the deal delivered Icahn ownership of Trump Taj Mahal. Icahn never found a suitable buyer for either casino. He closed the Taj in 2016 and sold it for just $50 million to Hard Rock International the following year.

Trump Plaza is located on prime real estate. The property is where the Atlantic City Expressway brings traffic to the town. But the rapidly deteriorating building turned away buyers.

After years of delay, Icahn finally conceded that the land is worth more vacant than with a dated building. The cost to implode the structure is estimated to run Icahn $14 million.

Trump Plaza Auction Returns

Small hoped to use the Trump Plaza demolition as a way to raise much-needed funds for the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City. The Democratic mayor in December declared an auction for the chance to hit the implosion button on the casino.

Icahn’s team strongly objected. Icahn Enterprises said the auction “presented a safety risk,” and sent a cease and desist order to the auction organizers. Icahn has pledged to cover the high bid of $175,000 and donate that amount to the local Boys & Girls Club.

But that’s not all the charity will receive. New Jersey-based Bodnar’s Auctions, which ran the canceled implosion sale, has formed a new event for the Trump Plaza takedown.

Bodnar’s is auctioning off 10 packages that include overnight accommodations at either Hard Rock or Ocean Casino, plus two tickets to an implosion viewing party at One Atlantic with the mayor. The packages additionally include dinner for two at either casino property.