A new ordinance to be voted on by Atlantic City Council officials next week is set to raise the maximum height limit for buildings in a section of the New Jersey city, it has been revealed.

Currently any buildings built on the land between the Boardwalk and avenues in the centre of the city can not exceed 485 feet in height, but the new measure would see that limit rise to 800 feet, along with an extra 100 feet for mechanical or aesthetic items.

The ruling would enable the proposed casino from Revel Entertainment to become one of the country’s biggest buildings.

Officials said they did not expect opposition to the new building, given the current state of the area.

“There were fabulous buildings in the area. There were fabulous streets. And we lost all that. [It’s] an eyesore and it creates this whole blightedness that fosters crime and […] people want to see those lots cleaned up and developed,” said first ward city councilman G. Bruce Ward, speaking to the Press of Atlantic City.

Recent reports suggest that annual revenue from Atlantic City casinos could decline in 2007 for the first time in history. On Sunday Harrah’s announced plans for a $550 million expansion of its Atlantic City resort.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 19th, 2007 at 11:32 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.