Atlantic City's historic Steel Pier, spanning about 5.2 acres and directly across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, is on the market for $85 million. The listing includes a rare opportunity to extend the pier up to 2,850 feet into the Atlantic Ocean under a perpetual riparian grant. Ryan Serhant, Michele Zyska, and Kevin Bergin of Serhant are handling the sale, which they highlight as a unique chance to develop oceanfront property with historical significance. The current owners, who have managed it since 2011 when they purchased it for $4.25 million, plan to sell due to succession issues within their family.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-16,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Atlantic City’s famed Steel Pier is hitting the market for $85 million — offering the supremely rare chance to buy an operating amusement park perched over the Atlantic Ocean, along with rights to build even farther out to sea.
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Pier → hit → sea
The historic attraction, directly across the boardwalk from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, spans roughly 5.2 acres and is being listed by Ryan Serhant, Michele Zyska, and Kevin Bergin of Serhant.
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attraction → span → Serhant
Today, the nearly 1,000-foot-long pier remains a classic Jersey Shore amusement park, with a towering Ferris wheel, rides, games and food — plus the unusual perk of a built-in helipad.
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pier → remain → helipad
The existing pier measures 150 feet wide and 965 feet long, while a perpetual riparian grant permits it to extend as far as 2,850 feet into the Atlantic.
“How often does someone get to own a piece of the ocean?
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someone → exist → ocean
That’s exactly what this offers,” Serhant said in a statement announcing the listing.
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Serhant → ’ → listing
“The Steel Pier isn’t just 5 acres on the most famous boardwalk in the world, it actually offers the chance to own the Atlantic itself and build something unforgettable on top of it,” he added.
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he → offer → it
Speaking separately with The Post, Serhant called it “developable American history that extends straight into the Atlantic Ocean.
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that → speak → Ocean
Constructed in 1897 and opened in 1898, Steel Pier was once billed as the “Showplace of the Nation,” stretching nearly 2,300 feet at its historic peak.
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Pier → construct → peak
It has since appeared in films including “The Long Kiss Goodnight” and “The Bounty Hunter,” as well as television productions including “Cake Boss.”
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It → appear → Boss
The pier was rebuilt with steel-reinforced concrete in the late 1980s and is anchored roughly 90 feet into bedrock, remaining intact through Superstorm Sandy, according to listing materials.
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pier → rebuild → materials
A family chapter comes to an end
For the Catanoso family, the sale would mark the end of a decades-long run at Steel Pier.
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sale → come → Pier
The longtime South Jersey amusement operators ran the attraction for nearly two decades before an ownership group including brothers Anthony, Charles and William Catanoso purchased it for $4.25 million in 2011.
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group → run → 2011
But after 15 years as owners, succession has become an issue.
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succession → become → owners
“The next generation is pursuing other passions,” Zyska told The Post.
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Zyska → pursue → Post
“So rather than keep it in the family, they’d rather see it go to an owner who can really realize its full potential.
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who → keep → potential
The $85 million asking price is 20 times the 2011 purchase price, though the owners have since made substantial capital improvements.
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owners → make → improvements
Zyska said the property was appraised at $87 million last year.
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property → say → million
“If this were in Palm Beach, it would be $400 million, and someone would have bought it already,” Serhant told The Post.
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Serhant → buy → Post
“The fact that it’s even available and there’s an opportunity to purchase it, I just think is super, super special.”
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I → ’ → it
What comes next?
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What → come → ?
Despite its long amusement history, Steel Pier doesn’t necessarily have to remain an amusement park.
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Pier → have → history
The approximately 40,000-square-foot front building and sky bridge carry an easement into the neighboring Hard Rock’s convention floor, while the existing pier footprint could potentially be expanded by 25%.
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footprint → carry → %
The property was approved and permitted for a condo-hotel entertainment complex in 2008 — a concept Serhant said would be his first choice if he were developing it.
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he → approve → it
“Executing on a condo-hotel plan would probably be my first plan,” he told The Post.
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he → execute → Post
“You have the rare ability to build out over the ocean itself.”
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You → have → ocean
He said the brokerage has already had “soft conversations with a handful” of potential players and sees an opportunity for the kind of branded hospitality and residential projects proliferating elsewhere.
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brokerage → say → projects
“If you’re a high-end, high-net-worth hospitality builder, I think Atlantic City is incredible value,” Serhant said.
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Serhant → ’re → ?
Zyska said other possibilities include music and entertainment uses.
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possibilities → say → uses
“If it lands in the right hands, it can really transform the boardwalk, and even that stretch of the Atlantic,” she told The Post.
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she → land → Post
“It’s really a premier opportunity.”
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It → ’ → ?
The listing comes as Atlantic City undergoes another wave of development, with new residential projects from Kushner Companies, K. Hovnanian Homes and other developers rising around the resort town.
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projects → come → town
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