Waking Up Atlantic City
Gordon Group Holdings is developing The Pier at Caesars, which promises to do for Atlantic City what The Forum Shops did for Las Vegas.
Randall Shearin

The Pier at Caesars, Atlantic City, New Jersey, will open in fall 2005.

“When I started the Forum Shops, everybody told me I was crazy,” he says. “I said, ‘People will shop where they gamble.’ They have time on their hands, they have money in their hands and they have their spouses or girlfriends with them. There is a huge propensity when people are in a resort gaming environment. I bet the ranch and obviously I won.”

The Pier at Caesars will have its own tram system that will transport visitors via gondolas from garages, over the ocean, and to the project in 2.5 minutes. It is capable of moving 30,000 people per day.

When Gordon started to build the Forum Shops, 18 million people per year visited Las Vegas. Today, 40 million people visit annually. In Atlantic City, where construction is underway on The Pier at Caesars, 38 million people are currently visiting every year — and that’s without any attraction except gaming. Currently 70 percent of revenue for Atlantic City comes from gaming, just as it was in Las Vegas 15 years ago. Another interesting statistic: the 13 casinos in Atlantic City do more gaming revenue than all 24 casinos on the Las Vegas strip combined. The average age of visitors to Atlantic City is lower than Las Vegas, while the average income of Atlantic City visitors is higher.

As a result of the numbers coming from Atlantic City, interest from retailers in the project has been incredibly strong. High-end retailers especially are looking at the space at The Pier. However, Gordon Group, as it did with The Forum Shops, insists that there be something for everybody at the Pier, so it is cutting deals with a variety of retailers to create a unique destination for Atlantic City visitors from all walks of life.

Each of the three levels inside The Pier at Caesars will have its own feel and design.

So far, the company has signed leases for The Pier at Caesars with high-end retailers like Gucci, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, A/X Armani Exchange, Burberry, Bebe, BEBE Sport, Tourneau, Guess, Steve Madden, Tommy Bahama’s, BCBG Max Azria, Misha of Siberia Furs, MAC Cosmetics and Marshall Rousso. Nine restaurants will also be located at the Pier. Those who have signed deals at the center include famed Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr’s Buddakan and Continental concepts and Baltimore’s famed Phillips Seafood. The Gordons are also working with Boston chef/restaurateur Todd English and New York restaurateur Jefferey Chodorow on concepts. Gordon Group has slowed the leasing program down because it wants to wait until near completion so it can physically show strong retailers the space and the concept.

“What market do you know that has 38 million people with money in their hands and no competition?” asks Sheldon Gordon. “There is a huge renaissance going on in Atlantic City. The new Borgata Hotel, Casino and Spa along with the renovations of six other hotels is upgrading the cache of Atlantic City.”

Gordon Group Holdings has signed a contract with Clear Channel Spectacolor to provide advertising signage atop The Pier At Caesars, including huge video walls and vinyl signs.

“If you give people a reason to come other than just gambling, they will come, just like they did in Las Vegas,” says Sheldon Gordon. “The Pier, along with the Borgata and the upgrading of a number of the hotels will change visitors’ impression of Atlantic City.”

About 12 years ago, the chairman of Caesars World, Henry Gluck, asked Gordon to evaluate the potential of the pier. It was built about 25 years prior and had become a dilapidated arcade of retail shops. The renaissance of Atlantic City was really in its infancy, not yet ready for substantial retail offerings. On Gordon’s advice, Caesars World bought the pier out of bankruptcy from Equitable Life. Gordon Group Holdings took over the management of the property and put all retailers on month-to-month leases after their current leases expired. About 3 years ago, when Sheldon Gordon was negotiating the Phase III expansion of The Forum Shops with Caesars, Park Place Entertainment, now the owners of both properties, asked Gordon Group Holdings to take another look at the pier.

“I went to Atlantic City and I was totally blown away,” says Sheldon Gordon. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing; it was Las Vegas 15 years ago.”

Sheldon Gordon, left, and Scott Gordon.

“Essentially it is a completely new building,” says Scott Gordon. “We kept only about 30 percent of the steel and demolished everything else.”

Interior construction is expected to begin this month, since steel construction was recently completed. The real estate of The Pier at Caesars itself is unique, with the pier stretched over the ocean. It is one of the few retail projects in the U.S. located by the ocean. The restaurant level has 700 feet of glass that is about 25 feet high, so every restaurant will have an ocean and sunset view. The Pier’s interior and exterior architecture are being completed by David Rockwell of New York City-based Rockwell Group and Elkus Manfredi Architects of Boston. On the exterior of the building, Gordon Group has developed a partnership with Clear Channel Spectacolor to place 77,000 square feet of advertising signage, including huge video walls and vinyl signs.

Sheldon Gordon, chairman of Gordon Group Holdings.

“The show will be a very sensory experience for about 2,000 people every hour,” he says. The amphitheater can also be converted for other uses, like fashion shows. Gordon Group is also planning to use the space a few nights a week as a nightclub after the stores close.

Different areas of the pier will have different designs. Like The Forum Shops in Las Vegas, the Gordon touch will be evident everywhere. The first level of The Pier will have a beach theme. The area will have wood floors that emulate the feel of the boardwalk. Most days of the year, the doors of the pier will stay open so that visitors flow from the boardwalk into the pier. The top level — housing the restaurants — will have 25-foot high windows that run the length of the west side of the pier. Along with having a view, the restaurants will each have patios so that diners can eat outdoors overlooking the ocean. The middle level, housing the fashion tenants, will have a different design.

Scott Gordon, president and development director, Gordon Group Holdings.

In addition to being adjacent and connected by bridge to Caesars, The Pier is also in close proximity to Bally’s, Wild Wild West and Sands casino hotels. The project is also within a 4-minute walk to 18,000 parking spaces — but visitors won’t have to walk. The Pier will have its own tram system that will transport visitors via gondolas from garages over the ocean to the project in 2.5 minutes. It is capable of moving 30,000 people per day.

Gordon Group is predicting major traffic for the center. Before the old pier shops closed, it had 6.5 million visitors per year. With the new project, Gordon Group predicts 15 million visitors per year and astronomical sales per square foot. The company plans to open The Pier at Caesars in early fall 2005.