$1B Redevelopment Set To Roll

"There was a time when the Southeast Inlet was a desirable place to live, and I think you're going to see history repeat itself," says Tom Scannapieco, president of the Scannapieco Development Co. of New Hope, PA, who's behind the plan. "Atlantic City is just emerging."

The plan calls for as many as 19 residential condo buildings, along with a major retail component. Morgan Stanley Gaming Holdings Inc. is also planning to develop a new casino resort property on a 20-acre.

And while Scannapieco is behind the plan, and his company's Bella Condominiums, already completed, is the catalyst, a number of other developers have signed on to develop properties within the site. Altogether, more than 1,300 residential units have been confirmed for the site, according to Scannapieco. The latter has also gotten the mayor and city council to change, by proclamation, the name of the region from Southeast Inlet to North Beach.

Scannapieco's Bella Condos consists of 200 units in 27 stories. Additional commitments have come from Simdag Investment, a Tampa, FL-based company with an office in Sea Isle City, which is set to build Victoria Tower, a 38-story luxury building with 400 units. Jim Maggs, a Brielle-based developer will also build Marbella, featuring 331 units and 36 stories.

The Miami-based Lennar Corp., meanwhile, will add Reflections, a mid-rise condo building, to the redubbed North Beach mix. And Prestigious Homes, based in Ventnor, an Atlantic City suburb, will add 250 units adjacent to Scannapieco's Bella property. Additional developers are expected to be announced for sites within North Beach.

Scannapieco first got involved in Atlantic City's long-term redevelopment two decades ago, since building some $60 million worth of mid-level housing. Most of that has come in the city's Northeast Inlet.