Revel Owner Might Abandon Reopening Plans, Says New Jersey 'Just Stinks'Developer Glenn Straub Blasts State After Thursday Hearing |
|
The owner of the most expensive casino ever built in Atlantic City is ready to walk away from a plan to reopen the property thanks to issues with securing the necessary government approvals to do so.
Florida developer Glenn Straub, who bought the $2.4 billion casino in April of last year for just pennies on the dollar, said Thursday that he might ditch the project. After much delay already, he had planned to reopen the facility without gambling in June.
Straub told NJ.com after a state agency postponed awarding him a necessary permit for the casino: “This state stinks. It just stinks…I worked in five states. This is 10 times worse than what it would be anyplace else.” The comments are in stark contrast to what he said earlier this year about Atlantic City. Straub said it’s “a perfect place to put money.”
The state board will meet again in early September to consider the matter. Straub has said that the casino will focus on non-gaming amenities, and gambling will be only a small part of the property’s new business. Changes to the property, such as the addition of a ropes course, reportedly have required state and city inspection.
A lawyer for Straub called the red tap “unprecedented.”
The casino has been closed since 2014, a year in which three other brick-and-mortar casinos in the city closed. The Trump Taj Mahal recently announced that it will be closing in October, leaving Atlantic City with just seven casinos.
Revel opened in 2012 and never turned a profit in less than three years in business. The casino never ventured into the online gambling space.
The roller coaster ride for Revel has been especially unusual since Straub acquired it. He was fined numerous times over the fire suppression systems in the shuttered casino, battled in court with the company that supplied power to the facility and even considered just flipping the casino to get away from its troubles. Other ideas once considered for Revel were to convert it into a university and later to use it as temporary housing for Syrian refugees. Damage done to Revel by seagulls crashing into the windows cost Straub $36,000 as well.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
