Penthouse publisher plans Atlantic City casino - again

Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Guccione said he is near agreement with an unnamed gambling company to build a Penthouse casino hotel on the Boardwalk. He refused to identify his would-be partners.

The site: a two-acre lot between Tennessee Avenue and St. James Place. The property is currently used for surface parking. It is owned by Penthouse Mayflower Corp.

Guccione said he has acquired surrounding properties that, combined with the lot, could make room for a four-acre parcel for a Penthouse-themed casino with up to 1,500 rooms.

"Gamblers like an adult atmosphere, as opposed to a family atmosphere. A lot of gamblers, they don't want to see women pushing baby carriages through casinos," he said Wednesday.

"We're not going to bring nude dancing, but just the name 'Penthouse' has an adult ring to it," he said.

Previous Guccione ventures here have crapped out.

In 1978, he broke ground on a Penthouse casino project at Columbia Place and the Boardwalk. But he ran out of money and the project was scrapped, though its rusting steel skeleton remained until 1993.

"This is very serious. I'm not in the habit of saying things that aren't seriously about to happen," he said.