Atlantic City’s downturn allowed Icahn to buy Tropicana for the bargain price of $200 million — an 80 percent discount from its pre-recession estimate of $1 billion. Tropicana may represent one of Icahn’s shrewdest deals yet. He gets a Boardwalk casino, a hotel complex totaling more than 2,000 rooms and an upscale retail, dining and nightclub hub called The Quarter. The Quarter alone cost $285 million to build in 2004.

Michael Pollock, managing director of the Linwood-based casino consulting firm Spectrum Gaming Group, said The Quarter should be a centerpiece of Tropicana’s recovery plan under Icahn’s new ownership.

“A property like the Tropicana needs to do a couple of things,” Pollock said. “It clearly needs to leverage and differentiate its assets. The biggest asset is The Quarter. The restaurant product in The Quarter is among the best in the region.”

The Quarter features a mall-like 200,000 square feet of space. No other Atlantic City casino has such a large retail and entertainment complex within the same building. When it opened in late 2004, The Quarter was at the forefront of a new trend for more nongaming attractions in the city. Not one slot machine or table game was in it.

However, Giannantonio disclosed that Tropicana is planning to place slot machines in The Quarter to complement the shopping and entertainment. Regulatory approval will be needed for the slots plan.

Other proposed changes under Icahn’s ownership include more entertainment in Tropicana’s 2,000-seat showroom and a bigger push for convention business. Tropicana has 100,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, among the biggest in town.

“We are one of the leading casinos in the convention business,” Giannantonio said. “We will be up 40 percent this year.”