As of yesterday, billionaire investor Carl Icahn has confirmed that the former Showboat Casino of Atlantic City can now operate as a non-casino hotel. A spokesman for Icahn confirmed that the investor and a developer of Philadelphia have been able to reach a resolution based on a legal restriction that will allow the former casino to function as a hotel without casino gaming.
Yesterday, both a spokesman for Icahn and Bart Blatstein, the developer, confirmed that the agreement was made. Blatstein had purchased the casino and reopened the venue this year as a hotel with no gaming. Icahn is the owner of the casino next to the Showboat, the Trump Taj Mahal. According to the Associated Press, Icahn agreed to resolve the claim with Blatstein without payment in return.
The problem was a legal covenant from 1988 that required the Showboat venue be used for only casino gaming. The document had kept Stockton University from turning the gaming venue into a satellite campus and the university chose to sell the building to Blatstein who was considering what to do with the property.