Showboat Atlantic City is said to have stiffed water park contractors

Posted on: June 16, 2024, 1:25 am.

Last updated: June 16, 2024, 1:25 am.

The owner of the Showboat Hotel reportedly owes millions of dollars to construction companies and contractors who helped bring the Atlantic City Boardwalk resort’s $100 million water park to life.

Philadelphia real estate magnate Bart Blatstein, whose Tower Investments owns and operates the Showboat Hotel, is named in a lawsuit seeking to put the resort’s Island Waterpark into receivership. The plaintiff is Parker Interior Plantscape, Inc., a New Jersey company, which claims it is owed $1.8 million in connection with irrigation and landscaping work the company performed for the family attraction.

The defendant is Blatstein’s construction company, Accelerated Construction.

Accelerated Construction is and has been for some time insolvent and unable to pay its debts as they become due, as evidenced by the significant amount of unpaid claims owed to Parker Interior and numerous other creditors,” the complaint states.

Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Ralph Paolone has scheduled a July 5 date to hear the case.

Millions in outstanding invoices

Parker Interior Plantscape is the only company that worked for the Island Waterpark that has filed a lawsuit to have the facility placed in receivership so that the company can receive the money it is owed. But the company is not alone in claiming that Accelerated Construction has failed to honor its contracts.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirerat least eight subcontractors have filed construction liens on claims that they are owed a total of approximately $7 million. Blatstein declined to comment on the lawsuit and liens.

Blatstein acquired the Showboat from Stockton University in 2016 for $23 million.

After initially planning to apply for a casino license to bring gambling back to the resort, the real estate mogul decided that Atlantic City didn’t need more slot machines and table games, but more family-friendly options.

The deed restriction that Caesars Entertainment placed on the building when it closed the Showboat Hotel & Casino in 2014, which prevents the current structure from being used for casino gambling, also likely forced Blatstein’s hand. However, Blatstein successfully subdivided the Showboat property into five new parcels in 2018 and 2019 and received preliminary eligibility approval to own a gaming franchise from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Slip and Slide Water Park

Blatstein gambled that Atlantic City could attract more families to the coast with its year-round water park attraction. Island Waterpark officially opened on July 4, 2023.

“On July 4, I would like to declare our independence from merely a casino city to a family-friendly resort with casinos,” Blatstein stated at the time.

The park’s first year of existence did not go as planned.

Due to lackluster attendance, Island Waterpark announced last fall, just months after opening to great hype, that it would close weekdays Tuesday through Thursday and scale back weekend hours. Ticket prices were also reduced, which many guests thought was too high.

The $89 adult admission price was reduced to just $49 during the winter and spring, but general admission prices have returned to $69 for the 2024 summer season. On Google, the attraction maintains a 3.8/5 star rating based on of almost 900 reviews.