The weedy 10-acre Boardwalk lot where Donald Trump's first Atlantic City casino once stood has a new owner — George Norcross, the South Jersey political power broker, who acquired the former Trump Plaza site along with a group of investors. The sale closed in September for about $5 million, ending roughly a year in which the vacant property sat on the market with no buyer in sight.
Norcross's spokesperson confirmed the acquisition, according to a report from NJ.com, which said Icahn's firm sold the property to Norcross and his partners in September for about $5 million, a figure drawn from Atlantic County tax records. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the transactions recorded at the 2201 Boardwalk address broke down differently — one sale for $5.04 million, another for $1.26 million, and a third for $349,541 — without resolving whether those figures represent separate parcels or a single deal split across records.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. confirmed the sale, the Inquirer reported, after he first disclosed on The Breakfast Club radio show that the property had changed hands, though he declined to name the buyer on air at the time. Small instead described the new owner only as one of the most powerful people in New Jersey, according to the NJ.com report — a description that fits Norcross, a prominent figure in New Jersey Democratic politics with deep ties to Camden's renewal efforts and a brother of U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross.
A Boardwalk Landmark Reduced to Rubble and Weeds
Trump Plaza opened in 1984 as Atlantic City's tenth casino and was the first gaming property Donald Trump built in the city, per NJ.com's report. It closed in 2014 amid a broader downturn that shuttered multiple Atlantic City casinos, and Trump himself lost majority ownership of his properties after his casinos filed for bankruptcy.
Investor Carl Icahn later acquired the Trump Plaza building, and its 39-story main tower was imploded in 2021 after years of deterioration. What remains on the roughly 10-acre site today, per the Inquirer's report, is the former casino's East Tower, a parking garage, and an operating Rainforest Cafe. The property had previously been marketed as a 10.7-acre beachfront parcel with no asking price listed, according to Bisnow, which also noted that the city's Resort Commercial District zoning allows residential, commercial and hotel uses there.
No Casino, No Development Plan Yet
Mayor Small said the site would not operate as a casino, since no additional casinos will be permitted, the Inquirer reported. Beyond that, the new owners have offered little detail: Norcross's group did not identify its investment partners or disclose how it plans to develop the site, the same NJ.com report noted. An attorney associated with Icahn, Adam Gillespie, declined to comment on the sale.
A spokesperson for Norcross, Daniel Fee, described the property as one of the best development sites in the area and said tens of thousands of families in South Jersey depend upon the renaissance of Atlantic City, adding that with a new plan it can become among America's greatest destination cities. Fee did not identify Norcross's partners or disclose how the investors plan to develop the site.
Norcross's Growing Footprint in Atlantic City
The Trump Plaza purchase adds to a list of investments Norcross has made in Atlantic City, including his takeover of the Formica Bakery in 2022. Norcross founded Conner Strong & Buckelew, an insurance brokerage based in Camden, and serves as chairman of the board of trustees of Cooper University Hospital, underscoring his broader footprint across South Jersey business and civic institutions.
Mayor Small said investor confidence in Atlantic City is at an all-time high right now, according to CBS News Philadelphia. Separately, state regulators reported that Atlantic City's casino licensees posted fourth-quarter 2025 net revenue of $784.6 million, according to a report from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. What exactly rises on the old Trump Plaza footprint, and when, remains unknown for now.
