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Playboy, Atlantic City

Playboy Hotel, Atlantic City, circa 1981

The Playboy Hotel, Atlantic City was developed and built in 1981 by Hugh Heffner’s Playboy Enterprises and Elsinore Corporation. Playboy already operated a casino in London and was looking to exploit the new Atlantic City gaming market.

 

Las Vegas architect Martin Stern, Jr. had already established himself in Atlantic City with proposals for Del Webb’s Sahara Boardwalk, another MGM Grand, and Bill Harrah’s Marina (of these the Marina was the only one that was built). Stern designed a green glass tower with a three-level casino for Playboy, but had to shorten the tower from its original 33 stories to 22 after the Federal Aviation Board claimed that it would impede local air traffic.

 

The casino suffered financial difficulties from the start, and was eventually sold outright to Elsinore Corporation. The name was changed to the Atlantis Hotel and Casino in 1984, but the property went bankrupt in 1985. Donald Trump bought it in 1989, and closed the casino to operate the property solely as a hotel named the Trump Regency. The property was re-opened in 1996 as the Worlds’ Fair at Trump Plaza, but after three years of failure, the entire building was demolished.

Playboy Hotel, Atlantic City, before 1981
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Playboy, Atlantic City

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