The Atlantic City Council recently voted to approve a landmark designation for the 24-story Claridge Hotel at 120 S. Indiana Avenue. Members of the council voted to adopt the legislation on June 17, one month after passing the ordinance on first reading.
The text of the legislation states that the Georgian Revival-style building was constructed in 1929 by the Philadelphia-based developer Charles McIlvain & Company. It notes that the building was considered the only “New York”-style skyscraper in southern New Jersey until the 1970s, when casino-hotel construction began in Atlantic City.
An archive from the hotel says that during World War II, the building housed the United States Air Force. By 1943, the hotel had become a center of diplomacy, hosting 44 nations at the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration World Conference.
The legislation states that the building has undergone several alterations over the years; however, the exterior of the brick- and terra cotta-clad building has remained untouched. In 1946, the owners added a two-story conference center, and in 1979, they added a 22-story tower. A parking deck and connecting bridges were added in 1990, and another bridge connecting the hotel to Bally’s Hotel and Casino was added around 2000.
Although the landmark designation will protect the hotel’s exterior, the Claridge itself is slated to become the epicenter of a massive nine-figure investment in Atlantic City.
A report in NJ.com in May 2025 said the hotel was being acquired by New York-based real estate firm Vivo Investment Partners LP. The firm intends to modernize the hotel and add an outdoor sports complex and interior amusements.
A report in Shore Local News in April 2025 said Vivo intended to invest $1 billion into the hotel and the adjacent former Sands Casino hotel site. That proposal calls for a man-made outdoor ski slope, a 20,000-seat stadium for minor-league baseball, soccer, and concerts, and a 30,000-square-foot arena for esports. It also calls for a 40,000-square-foot spa and go-kart track, as well as a mix of outdoor sports courts for basketball, volleyball, and pickleball, and retail and restaurant space.
The Claridge would retain 483 guest rooms, while the hotel’s former theater would house the esports center. The Sands site would include an 800-room hotel and 1,500 apartment units, according to the report. Executives at Vivo said the project would require a $200 million investment in the Claridge, while the adjacent Sands Casino site would require at least $800 million in ground-up construction.
Las Vegas-based financial firm Urban Bay Financial published a news release in February announcing it had granted a liquidity and pre-construction facility for the project.
Caleb Walsh, a managing director at Urban Bay Financial, told Jersey Digs that Vivo Investment Partners became the hotel’s operator in June.
Vivo will take ownership of the property in September, but it has already secured construction financing from a different lender, according to Walsh.
“We are looking at more ways that we can assist D-Wayne Prieto and his group [Vivo],” he said. “There is demand for Atlantic City and some of these underused properties. Prieto seems to see a new way of reshaping them that we haven’t seen in a long time, so we are very excited about that.”
Records from the Atlantic County Board of Taxation show that as of June, the hotel is still owned by TJM Atlantic City, which is affiliated with Florida-based real estate firm TJM Properties. The firm has owned the building since February 2014, when it paid $8.4 million for the property. The hotel has had an estimated value of $18.1 million since at least 2023, according to the board of taxation.
