N.J. offshore wind company paid $23 million for a full city block along the A.C. Boardwalk, but won’t yet say what it’s for

ATLANTIC CITY — Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a company that holds one of two leases to build an ocean wind energy farm off the New Jersey coast, paid $23.5 million in June for a full city block bordering the Boardwalk.

The company on Thursday confirmed the purchase of the property, an eye-popping price even in the speculator-rich town that inspired Monopoly.

It is about a block from the Tropicana Casino, and across Belmont Avenue from the Ritz Condominiums. It was owned by the Gurwicz company, Northfield-based developers. Atlantic Shores also recently purchased a back bay property for $3.5 million, bringing its recent real estate investment in Atlantic City to $27 million.

The Boardwalk property, purchased in two sections, encompasses 11 separate parcels stretching from the Boardwalk to Pacific Avenue, California to Belmont Avenues, all of it currently a parking lot, with the exception of the Boardwalk-fronting Biergarten. On the tax map, it is Block 32.

A company spokesperson said Atlantic Shores had no plans to ask the popular Biergarten to move.

“We are glad to have them as our tenant,” company spokesperson Phil Chinitz said in an e-mail.

He characterized the plans for the rest of the site as “future project facilities,” but said the precise use was yet to be determined.

The activities of Atlantic Shores, which is owned by EDF Renewables North America and Shell New Energies US, as well as Ørsted, a Danish company, have been under increased scrutiny as the public debates whether the wind turbines will negatively affect beach views and fishing, or squeeze shipping lanes.

» READ MORE: Dog days, wind turbines, & Stone Harbor’s view: Down The Shore

Ørsted’s 99 turbines will stretch from Atlantic City to Stone Harbor, about 15 miles offshore, while Atlantic Shores plans 110 turbines between 10 and 20 miles off the coast, stretching from Atlantic City north to Long Beach Island.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management recently released a 1,400-page draft report talking about the impact of the wind farms.

As these purchases show, the footprint on land for these companies is not insignificant.

In addition to the Boardwalk fronting land, Atlantic Shores recently bought a back bay property at 801 N. Maryland Ave., county records show.

One section of the Boardwalk block was purchased for $18,858,750, including the Boardwalk fronting parcel, county records show. The rest of the parcel, all parking lot, fetched a price tag of $4,641,250.

Ørsted’s plans to build an operations and maintenance facility at the waterfront ends of North New Jersey and Delaware Avenues has caused concern among some neighbors in the city’s Bungalow Park community.

Company officials have said the facility is mainly for workers to board boats that will take them 15 miles out into the ocean to work on maintaining or constructing the wind farms.

Atlantic Shores’ Maryland Avenue property could be used for a similar purpose.

Chinitz confirmed that “Atlantic Shores does own the site at Maryland Avenue,” and said the company “will be making an announcement about this later in the year.”

Chinitz said Atlantic Shores’ plans for the Boardwalk property were also still to be determined.

He said the plans could “possibly” include using the location to bring transmission cables out from the ocean to connect to the onshore electrical grid.

“We will soon be working with the Atlantic City council members to assess and eventually solidify any plans for this project,” Chinitz said. “After that, we will have more information to share with you.”

In Ocean City, Ørsted’s plans include running transmission cables up from the ocean at 35th Street, then continue underground to Bay Avenue, all the way to a property near the former B.L. England Generating Station.

The plan has generated mixed reviews from officials and residents in Ocean City.

In Atlantic City, though, Mayor Marty Small Sr. said he welcomed all development in the city and said he was confident the two wind companies would work out any concerns with neighbors.

The high-priced purchases will no doubt have a positive effect on city ratables.

“It just goes to show investor confidence is high in the great city of Atlantic City,” Small said Thursday. “We welcome all development here in the city of Atlantic City. We want everything in Atlantic City. No neighborhood wants quality of life interrupted. They will work out the concerns with neighbors.”