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On one hand, South Jersey Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III got a good deal when he recently purchased the former Trump Plaza property in Atlantic City for $5 million. The 10-acre ocean front property could have gone for “hundreds of millions of dollars” more, according to John Boyd Jr., principal of The Boyd Company, a corporate site selection firm.
“There’s single-family homes in Miami that are listed at $100 million right now. So it’s a great buy for Norcross,” Boyd said, who added that there are still development, construction and other costs associated with redeveloping oceanfront property.
At the same time, Boyd said the price tag is not abnormal because it is a distressed property. The Trump Plaza casino closed its doors in 2014 and was subsequently demolished seven years later.
Boyd points to the Denver Energy Center, which was sold in 2025 for $5.25 million. Its previous owner paid $176 million for the complex in 2013. The former BB&T headquarters in North Carolina was purchased earlier this month for $3.9 million, a 93.5% discount from the $60 million previous investors paid in December 2014.
Norcross’ spokesman Daniel Fee confirmed the property purchase with his children, Lexi and Alex Norcross, and other business partners. Development plans will be announced in the future, Fee added.
Because the property is already zoned for commercial use, the possibilities are endless. But it likely will not be another casino, despite a 10-year deed restriction no longer in effect. At the time of closure, Trump Plaza was the fourth shuttered casino in Atlantic City.
“There are nine casinos operating in Atlantic City now and only a handful, probably three or four of them, are really profitable,” said Michael Busler, finance professor at Stockton University.
With casinos starting to open in New York City and efforts to bring gambling to the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park in the New Jersey Legislature, Busler said there’s not a market for new casinos in Atlantic City, which has taken a hit from competition in southeastern Pennsylvania and Maryland.
“I think the overall gambling market has probably reached a peak,” he said. “It will grow annually, but you won’t see any of the rapid growth we’ve seen in the past.”
