Trump Plaza sold to California company
Trump takes another dump in Atlantic City.
Trump Plaza, the Boardwalk centerpiece of Donald Trump’s one-time Atlantic City empire, was sold Thursday to a California company for $20 million in the cheapest of a series of bargain-basement deals for distressed gambling halls in the struggling New Jersey seaside resort.
The Meruelo Group of Downey, Calif., plans to close the deal by May 31. It is the lowest price ever paid for a casino in Atlantic City.
The company, which counts construction, engineering, real estate, food service and private equity among its businesses, also owns the Grand Sierra Resort and casino in Reno, Nev.
Trump Plaza, which cost $210 million to build, opened in May 1984 as one of Donald Trump’s pet projects. The real estate mogul has since limited his dealings in Atlantic City.
The sale leaves the company he once ran, Trump Entertainment Resorts, with just one casino, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. The company sold the former Trump Marina to a Texas company that rebranded it as the new Golden Nugget in 2011.