The Sahara Boardwalk Hotel and Casino was a proposed hotel and casino that was to be built in the late 1970s and early 1980s in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. The site of the proposed project was located at Albany Avenue and the

Boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...

, between the original Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino and the proposed

Dunes Hotel and Casino (Atlantic City) The Dunes Hotel and Casino (Atlantic City) was a proposed hotel and casino that was to be built in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the late 1970s. It was initially proposed to consist of 504 hotel rooms and a 34,500 square foot casino located at Al ...

project. However, because of financial and legal difficulties, construction of the hotel/casino was never completed and the site was sold in 1982.

History

The site was acquired in September 1978. Initial plans were to construct a 30 story building with 506 rooms and a 43,400 square foot casino. On the site was the 13-story President Towers Apartment Hotel. The property had opened as the President Hotel in 1926. In 1968 it was converted to an apartment building, with 212 units. By some accounts, it was the site of the

Atlantic City Conference The Atlantic City Conference held between 13–16 May 1929 was a historic summit of leaders of organized crime in the United States. It is considered by most crime historians to be the earliest organized crime summit held in the US. The conference ...

in 1929, where the leaders of organized crime met to discuss their future plans and operations. The building was demolished in August 1979. However, no further construction was done on the site. The project was owned by the Del E. Webb Corporation, a real estate development company and the owner of several other casinos in Nevada, including the

Sahara Hotel and Casino Sahara Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by the Meruelo Group. The hotel has 1,616 rooms, and the casino contains . The Sahara anchors the northern end of the Las Vegas ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. They also bought an interest in the Claridge Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City in 1979. The company experienced difficulties obtaining a gaming license from the

New Jersey Casino Control Commission The Casino Control Commission is a New Jersey state governmental agency that was founded in 1977 as the state's Gaming Control Board, responsible under the Casino Control Act for licensing casinos in Atlantic City. The commission also issues lic ...

. The

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that was established in 1977 under the Casino Control Act, N.J.S.A. to ensure the integrity of the casino gaming industry, including spor ...

had opposed granting a temporary license for operating the Claridge Casino. The company was awaiting trial in connection with the assisting of illegal kickbacks during construction of an addition on the Aladdin Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The company had also been accused of providing prostitutes for high-rollers at its casinos, receiving illegal rebates on beer purchases, making illegal political contributions, and lacking sufficient credit and financial controls. After the company was acquitted in the kickback trial, and management was shuffled around, they were granted a casino license for the Claridge in 1982. Del Webb was experiencing financial problems in the early 1980s and abandoned the Sahara project. The land was sold to the original Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in 1982. In 1983, the adjacent

project purchased an option to buy the land to expand the intended construction of their hotel/casino. However, it got entangled in bankruptcy and litigation and reverted to the Golden Nugget. The property was subsequently owned by a number of companies, most recently by AC Gateway LLC, which had proposed to develop the

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (Atlantic City) Numerous casinos have been planned for Atlantic City, New Jersey but never opened. In November 1976, New Jersey voters approved a referendum that legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City, and when the Casino Control Act of New Jersey was signe ...

in 2011.The AC Gateway Project : Wally Barr and Curtis Bashaws Plans For The Dunes, Sahara Atlantic City and Old Atlantic City High School. 10th December 2007. atlanticcitytripping.co

/ref> However, that plan was abandoned and as of 2014 the site remained vacant and was being used as a parking lot.

References

{{coord, 39.349, -74.453, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NJ, display=title Casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey Hotels in Atlantic City, New Jersey Unbuilt buildings and structures in the United States Casino hotels Unbuilt casinos