A Homeowner’s Refusal to Cash Out in a Gambling Town Proves Costly
“A stand of blossoming lilac trees and a fresh coat of white paint hardly hide the decrepitude of the three-story boardinghouse half a block from the boardwalk. Ripped screens cover the windows that have not been smashed or boarded up. In the kitchen, refrigerators stand open and empty in a row; dirty plates fill the sink. Some guest rooms look untouched, beds made, while bags of trash and piles of suitcases litter others. What appears to be a crack pipe sits on a dresser.
Not so long ago, this was the most coveted home in this city.
On July 31, the property, at 127 South Columbia Place, will go up for auction. The reserve price, or the lowest the seller will accept, is $199,000, but brokers insist it will go for more. As recently as eight years ago, Donald Trump was willing to pay at least 10 times that amount so he could expand Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. In the 1980s, Bob Guccione, the publisher of Penthouse, also made offers in the seven figures to clear the way for a casino of his own.
Jim Whelan, the former mayor and a current state senator, is among those who place some of the blame for Atlantic City’s decline on Ms. Coking. “I wouldn’t say it was her singularly, but the climate she and other holdouts created,” he said. “It scared off development, and maybe the city wouldn’t be so reliant on gaming. A lot of people’s boats came in, and they wouldn’t get on.”
Maybe she just never wanted to get on board.
“I don’t think she has any remorse,” Mr. Casey, the grandson, said. “There were never any offers she thought were reasonable. A few million dollars may sound like a lot, but it’s not for the place she loved.””
Chaban, Matt. New York TImes 21 July 2014.