For years, Bart Blatstein was steadfast about not buying real estate in Atlantic City.

He had his reasons. For one thing, the local iconic resort town evokes fond memories of his childhood that he preferred to keep intact, like many others who grew up around the Delaware Valley.

And in the fact that he keeps a vacation home just a few miles away in nearby Margate, which has served as an escape for the Philadelphia-based developer for more than a decade.