City Living, Pinelands Parties and the Atlantic Club’s Future – Friday’s Roundup

City Living
Would you like to live blocks from the ocean, with bay or Atlantic views, in an affordable but beautifully-renovated apartment? What if it were in Atlantic City? The Iron Room’s Mark Callazzo is betting that some people who work in the city – but live offshore or downbeach – might be enticed back to the city, if there were a decent housing choice for them. We took an exclusive tour around his new apartment building at 1 N. Boston Ave and interviewed him about his outlook on Atlantic City. You can watch the video and read the piece here.

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A Believer Rescues An Atlantic City Apartment Building

Mark Callazzo might just be the walking embodiment of everybody’s favorite car magnet around here. “AC – Don’t Stop Believing” appears to be the unspoken motto of the guy behind The Iron Room bar and restaurant, who is now close to completing the refurbishment of an entire building the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority had been set to demolish. Studio and one- and two-bedroom Apartments at 1 N. Boston Ave will be available in January, Callazzo said when he took us on a tour of the building earlier this month. You can watch our video from the tour below. “I like Atlantic City, I believe in its future,” Callazzo said, as he walked us around the building, which has views of the Atlantic ocean on one side and the bay on the other.

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Wawa In Florida: It’s Like an Eagles’ Tailgate and Possible Mortgage Relief For Sandy Victims – Thursday’s Roundup

A Wawa Opens In A Florida Town, People Get Excited
It’s not exactly news from South Jersey, but it is news about about one of our area’s institutions: Wawa. The chain of goose has opened its first store in Winter Garden, Florida (just outside Orlando) and locals – well, really they’re South Jersey transplants – got a little over excited, according to the West Orange Times & Observer. “It was like tailgating at a Philadelphia Eagles game,” said a guy named Andrew Murray, who attended the opening four years ago of the first Wawa ever in Florida. “It was a really big deal,” Murray said. You can take the guy out of South Jersey, apparently, but you can’t take him out of a Wawa.

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Downbeach Construction Boom Slows, Shifts Uptown

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy launched a private construction boom that is just starting to fade in the wealthier southernmost towns of Absecon Island, while the slow trickle of FEMA money now starting to come in means more construction and demolition is shifting to the northern end of the island. Certificates of occupancy for new homes are down in Margate and Longport this year through September, while data from state permits show demolition and construction has picked up this year in Ventnor and Atlantic City. You can download – for a small fee – here our full data set showing construction, demolition, certificates of occupancy and residential additions in Ventnor, Margate and Longport since 2010. !function(e,t,n,s){var i=”InfogramEmbeds”,o=e.getElementsByTagName(t),d=o[0],a=/^http:/.test(e.location)?”http:”:”https:”;if(/^\/{2}/.test(s)&&(s=a+s),window[i]&&window[i].initialized)window[i].process&&window[i].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var r=e.createElement(t);r.async=1,r.id=n,r.src=s,d.parentNode.insertBefore(r,d)}}(document,”script”,”infogram-async”,”//e.infogr.am/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js”);
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Ventnor has seen an unprecedented spate of new construction in the last 18 months, while new certificates of occupancy have slipped in Margate and Longport since last year. Jimmie Agnesino, construction code official in Ventnor, said the pickup in construction in the town is mostly due to the fact that FEMA money is now starting to reach homeowners.

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Taj Mahal Up For Sale, Ridesharing Regulation and Sonic Booms – Wednesday’s Roundup

Icahn In Talks To Sell Taj Mahal
According to the New York Post, one of Atlantic City’s least-favorite billionaire investors Carl Icahn is in talks to sell one of his three casinos in the resort town. The Taj Mahal, which Icahn closed in October after a bitter contract dispute with UniteHere local 54 ended in a summer-long strike, is on the block – apparently. Other casino operators might be interested, according to the report. Route 40 reported back in November that the mere act of closing the property almost halved its value. You can read that story here.

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Legislature Says No To Icahn Reopening Taj, Christie’s AC Overlord Pick Says A Lot – Tuesday’s Roundup

Legislature Moves To Stop Taj Reopening Under Icahn

New Jersey’s state legislators on Monday voted to punish billionaire investor Carl Icahn for closing the Taj Mahal casino, by preventing him from reopening it for five years. The bill would apply to any casino owner who closed a casino after Jan. 2016 but right now that’s just Icahn. It’s not clear, however, whether Gov. Christie – who has the say on the plan – will approve it. Read the AP story here.

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Income Gap Widening, New Sober Living House Opens – Friday’s Roundup

New Jersey’s income gap is getting wider – and it’s one of the widest in the country. Recently released data show that the average income, exclusive of capital gains, was more than $400,000 for the top 5 percent of New Jersey households. The poorest 20 percent had an average income of $25,600. NJSpotlight has an interactive map and a detailed story here – so you can see poverty rates by county. The Egg Harbor Township-based group Stop the Heroin have opened their first sober living home in Pleasantville.

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Atlantic City Wrecking Ball and Our Decaying Water System – Thursday’s Roundup

Demolition is on the rise in Atlantic City, for the first time since the financial crisis. It could possibly – just possibly – be a positive sign that some more private construction projects are coming soon. But most of the demolition has been carried out by public agencies. Read the Route 40 story here. NJ Spotlight takes a look at New Jersey’s water infrastructure, which leaks an unbelieveble amount – almost a third – of its water before it even reaches the tap.

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Atlantic City Demolitions Climb, Reach Highest Since Financial Crisis

Atlantic City has demolished 79 housing units this year through September, more than double the rate of demolition in any year since the financial crisis. Public agencies tore down the most buildings, but state data show there have also been some private demolitions, which could indicate more construction will be starting in the city. The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) has demolished more than half of the units as part of its ongoing city-wide demolition project. Another chunk of the units were demolished by the Atlantic County Improvement Authority (ACIA), through an agreement with the city to clear abandoned buildings. The number of units demolished by the public agencies, however, is below the total number of units demolished year to date, which suggests there has also been some private demolition work.

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