Mayor Small to sign agreement for Bader Field redevelopment on Thursday

ATLANTIC CITY — City Council passed a resolution Wednesday night to move forward with a $2.7 billion auto enthusiasts' development at Bader Field.

The resolution authorizes Mayor Marty Small Sr. to execute a memorandum of agreement with DEEM Enterprises, which wants to build luxury housing for owners of high-performance race cars and a 2.4-mile raceway for use by residents.

It would also include other housing and retail space.

The resolution allows for a site control letter authorizing DEEM to apply to governmental authorities without having a real property interest in Bader Field.

Small will sign the memorandum at 10 a.m. Thursday during a news conference at Bader Field.

"I’m not a race car guy, I'm not in love with that part," Small told council before the vote. "I am in love with what the project does for the taxpayers in Atlantic City."

Small has said when fully built the development would cut the city's property-tax rate in half.

"It also brings a plethora of industries we don't have here," Small said of training for mechanics to service $1 million-plus cars and building residences with high-tech methods for hurricane resistance.

Small said he and his administration went back and forth with the state as the Department of Community Affairs and the state Attorney General's Office did "tough due diligence on the project ... to make sure the city was protected."

The resolution is made "without any promises or commitment," as part of a process "to make a formal determination whether a redevelopment agreement should be entered into with DEEM for the proposed redevelopment project."

DEEM will pay all costs of specialists and experts needed for the city to determine whether it will sign a redevelopment agreement, the resolution states.

The resolution also specifies that the solicitor's office will report regularly to council on "specifics and progress of the city's review and analysis of the proposed redevelopment project."

DEEM would clean up an underground plume of old aviation fuel plus fuel from a former public works site at Bader Field and cap it, said principal Kevin Dixon, of Dixon Associates Engineering, at a recent Press of Atlantic City editorial board meeting.

DEEM would include a reverter clause in any development contract so the land would return to the city if the project falls through, said Atlantic City attorney Dan Gallagher, who represents DEEM.

“If the project fails, the city will still have the land” and the improvements, Gallagher said.

The state has been considering the proposal for about two years. A memorandum was on the agenda a few months ago but was pulled at the last minute at the request of Small, who said the state wanted some concerns addressed. The state has final say over what can be built at the site.

Bart Blatstein of Tower Investments and the Showboat Hotel has proposed building 10,000 rental units at Bader Field, along with a hotel, parks and more, and former state Sen. Bill Gormley has floated making it a city park.

Blatstein and others, including the Greater Atlantic City Chamber, have called for the state to conduct a competitive process for the right to develop Bader Field by issuing a request for proposals and allowing the public to see all the options.

Bader Field is a 143-acre former airport site and one of the largest open areas left in any shore community along the East Coast.