The rich history of Atlantic City’s Million Dollar Pier has been chronicled in these pages several times, as has developer Bart Blatstein’s failed attempt to transform the venue into a destination filled with upscale restaurants, nightspots and retailers that he called The Playground. Also covered in Shore Local was the transformation of the pier into a film production studio and entertainment venue called ACX1 Studios, which opened in September 2023.
Not very well-remembered, except perhaps by those who have been visiting Atlantic City through the years, are two other incarnations of the pier after the Million Dollar Pier was demolished. Ocean One, which lasted from 1983 to 2003, came first, followed by The Pier Shops at Caesars, in operation from 2006 until The Playground opened in 2015.
There was no concrete reason given at the time for why Million Dollar Pier was phased out beginning in 1980, especially because the city’s other amusement pier, Steel Pier, shut down in 1978. This left the Boardwalk without a major amusement pier until Steel Pier’s revival in 1992. However, the pier’s fate was sealed in 1981 when a devastating fire tore through the structure, effectively ending its run as an amusement destination and clearing the way for demolition and redevelopment.
It’s quite possible that shopping mall developer Kravco, Inc., the company that purchased the pier, believed that the property would have more value as a shopping destination rather than an amusement park. Apparently no one at the time with any influence considered that the city would be losing a historic, family attraction.
Kravco justified the decision with this statement: “The amusement rides of the past were no longer attractive as a destination. A mall could help facilitate non-casino tourism back into Atlantic City and contribute heavily to urban renewal.”
Ocean One opened in April 1983, at a cost of $40 million, as a three-floor structure designed to look like a cruise ship. It was fun, lively and affordable. Kravco deserved credit for catering to visitors and residents who were looking for non-casino shops, restaurants and entertainment.
At its height, the pier had more than 100 retailers ranging from fashion boutiques to bookstores, eight restaurants, 20 fast food outlets and spaces for miniature golf and shuffleboard. Kravco knew just what would work on the Boardwalk.
It had a successful 10 or so years. In retrospect, the new developers who came in after Kraco should have left well enough alone, in that the key words “affordable” and “family friendly” defined just what Atlantic City needed and wanted at the time. Still, there were those who maintained there was a market here for “everything upscale,” a mistake that was made later on with the building of the Revel Casino Hotel, which lasted from April 2012 until September 2014.
In 2002 an outfit called Gordon Group Holdings, headed by Sheldon Gordon, bought the property. According to a 2006 article in Forbes magazine, “Gordon built The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, the first serious effort by a Las Vegas casino to diversify into retail. Forum’s outlets have annual sales per square foot averaging $1,300, among the highest of any retail space in the U.S.
“On June 27 Gordon opened his biggest project yet, The Pier at Caesars in Atlantic City, N.J. The $200 million, 500,000-square-foot mall juts like an ocean liner 300 yards into the water. Gordon believes The Pier can do for Atlantic City what The Forum did for Las Vegas.”
Everything was torn down and in 2006, the new Pier Shops at Caesars opened. Some of the more exclusive tenants included True Religion, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Gucci, Mulberry, Coach, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, Baccarat and White Lotus Boutique. This concept may have been successful at the Cherry Hill Mall, the King of Prussia Mall and in Las Vegas, but “exclusively upscale” just didn’t work in Atlantic City at the time. There were economic issues with the new mall almost from the start.
A year after it opened, a company called Taubman Centers, Inc., owned by Gordon’s sometime partner, Alfred Taubman, a developer known for popularizing the concept of the indoor shopping mall, brought The Pier. Three years later, Taubman couldn’t pay the mortgage and The Pier was taken over by C-III Capital Partners, the organization that actually held the mortgage. C-III, understandably, wanted their money and decided to sell The Pier at auction. Already considered a white elephant, there were no takers. Experienced mall operators Cushman & Wakefield were hired to manage the venue, but it was too late.
Malls were beginning to have problems everywhere, there was increasing competition from the internet and above all, residents and visitors to the Atlantic City Boardwalk were not paying for products from Gucci or Louis Vuitton.
Spencer Gifts? Yes. Gucci? No.
Shoppers could get the high-end stuff at the casinos. By the end, The Pier at Caesars was reportedly 98 percent vacant. The Playground, unfortunately, was another stiff that lasted, with considerable difficulty, from 2015 to 2020.
The jury is still out regarding the success of ACX1 Studios. According to the studios’ mission statement, the goal is “to help revitalize family entertainment and shopping on the Atlantic City Boardwalk while introducing new and exciting attractions. This will include television and movie production along with social media production spaces for audio and video.”
In the two-plus years of operation, ACX1 has staged some impressive wrestling and concert events and is doing what it can to lure retailers to open up shop. Simpson Restaurant & Bar was a tenant for a while, but recently moved to larger digs near Caesars on 2100 Atlantic Ave. The Laff House comedy club had a brief residency at ACX1, but it appears that club is now gone.
But the pier is forging ahead and already has a unique event scheduled for Saturday, March 21. “Popped,” is an all-day event described by ACXI as “an event that will feature celebrity guests from movies, television, wrestling and the paranormal, along with retro gaming tournaments and various vendors.” On Saturday, April 25., another all-day event is planned. Altercon and The Great American Cryptid Expo is a convention focused on paranormal, abnormal and fringe topics.
One thing is for certain right now: no other venue on the Atlantic City Boardwalk is doing things like this. And maybe that, finally, is the key to the pier’s success.
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
