Report: Shaquille O’Neal wants to keep $61 million AC apartment project alive
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is seeking an extension on a $30 million loan from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to develop a 250-unit apartment project in Atlantic City, according to Press of Atlantic City.
Update, 4:15 p.m.: The CRDA has approved the proposed extension to Janury 29 for the O'Neal/Boraie project loan, Board spokesman David Zuba tells us.
The original posting continues below:
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal is seeking an extension on a $30 million loan from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to develop a 250-unit apartment project in Atlantic City, according to Press of Atlantic City.
Also backed by North Jersey developer Wasseem Boraie, the project's goal is to construct a $61 million development on Atlantic City's South Inlet dubbed The Beach at South Inlet.
Via Press of Atlantic City:
In March 2014, the CRDA's board agreed to loan up to $30 million to the project.
Then three casinos — two bordering the South Inlet — closed. Stockton University's plan to open its Island Campus near the neighborhood collapsed. And legislation was proposed (and is pending) to divert the CRDA's lifeblood — the 1.25 percent Investment Alternative Tax on casino revenue — away from the agency to repay Atlantic City's debt.
Now, the CRDA will determine if O'Neal's proposed project is a prudent choice "to fund in light of the changed economic conditions" in the city. The project's loan proposal reportedly expires on Sept. 30, but a vote today could extend the deadline to Jan. 29.
The Kazaam star has not yet issued a statement on the project, though partner Boraie appears poised to get started.
"Our team has secured outside financing for the Beach at South Inlet project from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and are eager to begin," he said via a statement.
Boraie and O'Neal, however, aren't the only developers interested in expanding in AC. Local developer Bart Blastein is currently seeking to purchase the former Showboat casino property from Stockton University for some $18 million.
Most recently, O'Neal relayed the tale of how he passed up a Starbucks endorsement because, in his estimation, "black people don't drink coffee."
"That was one of my worst business decisions," he told sports reporter Graham Bensinger this week.