Atlantic City’s iconic Steel Pier is up for sale, offering a rare chance to buy an operating amusement park built over the Atlantic Ocean, along with the rights to extend the property much farther into the sea.
asserted
Pier → offer → sea
The asking price is $85 million, according to a report by the New York Post.
uncertain
price → accord → Post
The nearly 1,000-foot-long pier sits directly across the boardwalk from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and covers roughly 5.2 acres.
asserted
pier → sit → acres
Ryan Serhant, Michele Zyska and Kevin Bergin of Serhant have listed the property.
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Serhant → list → property
A piece of New Jersey history, the pier has survived a Depression, two world wars, organised crime, urban decay and a 1969 fire that burned away nearly a third of its original footprint.
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that → survive → footprint
It remains a classic Jersey Shore amusement park, with a towering Ferris wheel, rides, games and food, along with a built-in helipad.
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It → remain → helipad
Now it awaits a new buyer.
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it → await → buyer
It was constructed in 1897 and started operation a year later as a theatre.
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It → construct → theatre
Once known as the ‘Showplace of the Nation’, it stretched nearly 2,300 feet at its height.
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it → know → height
It hosted performances from Frank Sinatra to the radio stars of the 1940s.
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It → host → 1940s
A young Tony Grant launched his ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ talent showcase there, later creating the groundwork for what would become American Bandstand.
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what → launch → groundwork
The pier also appeared in films such as ‘
The Long Kiss Goodnight’ and ‘
The Bounty Hunter’ and the TV show ‘
Cake Boss’.
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pier → appear → Hunter
The current structure was rebuilt using steel-reinforced concrete in the late 1980s.
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structure → rebuild → 1980s
It is anchored roughly 90 feet into bedrock and, according to the listing materials, remained intact during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
uncertain
It → anchor → 2012
Now, the pier remains an amusement park, attracting thousands of visitors with its rides, games and the Ferris wheel overlooking the Atlantic.
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pier → remain → Atlantic
The Catanoso family bought it for $4.25 million
The Steel Pier was run by longtime South Jersey amusement operators for nearly two decades before the Catanoso family, including brothers Anthony, Charles and William Catanoso, purchased it.
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family → buy → it
When the Catanoso brothers took over Atlantic City's Steel Pier fourteen years ago, they inherited more than carnival rides and a 965-foot boardwalk landmark.
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they → take → rides
They inherited history.
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They → inherit → history
In 2011, they bought the property for $4.25 million.
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they → buy → million
Now, the asking price is $85 million, twenty times what they paid for!
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they → pay → what
It reflects how the property is valued now.
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property → reflect → ?
What the Catanoso family operated as a working amusement park, a summer attraction with the Ferris wheel, games, food and the helipad on the roof, it repositioned as something far more valuable.
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it → operate → something
A perpetual riparian grant allows the property to extend as far as 2,850 feet into the Atlantic Ocean.
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property → allow → Ocean
The existing pier footprint could also potentially be expanded by 25%, according to listing materials.
uncertain
footprint → exist → materials
According to Serhant, this is the opportunity to own a piece of ocean.
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this → accord → ocean
“How often does someone get to own a piece of the ocean?
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someone → get → ocean
That’s exactly what this offers,” Serhant said in a statement.
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Serhant → ’ → statement
“The Steel Pier isn’t just 5 acres on the most famous boardwalk in the world, it actually offers the chance to own the Atlantic itself and build something unforgettable on top of it,” he added.
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he → offer → it
In 2008, Steel Pier was approved and permitted for a condo-hotel entertainment complex.
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Pier → approve → complex
According to Serhant, it is a “developable American history that extends straight into the Atlantic Ocean.”
uncertain
that → accord → Ocean
This sale will also bring an end to the Catanoso family’s association with the historic landmark.
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sale → bring → landmark
“The next generation is pursuing other passions.
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generation → pursue → passions
So rather than keep it in the family, they’d rather see it go to an owner who can really realise its full potential,” Zyska told The Post.
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Zyska → keep → Post
The property was valued at $87 million last year, after substantial improvements.
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property → value → improvements
But according to Serhant, the current asking price is indeed a steal.
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price → accord → Serhant
“If this were in Palm Beach, it would be $400 million, and someone would have bought it already.
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someone → buy → it
The fact that it’s even available and there’s an opportunity to purchase it, I just think is super, super special,” Serhant said.
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Serhant → ’ → it
The new owner would not necessarily have to keep it as an amusement park.
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owner → have → park
A luxury hotel-residence with retail and entertainment, a music venue or experiential complex, or a residential tower with a commercial base is also possible with 2,850 feet of ocean development rights that no competitor on the boardwalk can match.
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competitor → match → boardwalk
The 40,000 sq. ft. front building and sky bridge carry an easement into the neighbouring Hard Rock’s convention floor, but the existing pier footprint could potentially be expanded by 25%.
uncertain
footprint → carry → %
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
