..... damned if you don’t.”

“On December 12, 2014, the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, now Stockton University, entered into an agreement to purchase the Showboat Casino from Caesars to be used as a satellite “Island Campus.” The sale, for $18 million, was viewed as critical to the University, which was in need of classroom and residential space, as well as to Atlantic City, which would realize significant urban renewal benefits as a result. Unfortunately, as a result of a restrictive covenant that was placed on the property in 1988 by the predecessor to the Trump Taj Mahal, the property at issue could only be used as a “first class hotel-casino.” Meanwhile, in November 2014, just prior to the sale of the Showboat to Stockton, Caesars placed its own restrictive covenant on the property, prohibiting its use for gaming. This Report addresses how Stockton could enter into a transaction which, as a result of these two conflicting covenants, prohibited it from using the premises as a college campus, as it intended, even as it also hampered its ability to sell the property for use, once again, as a casino.”