Casinos in USA Casinos in US Whether land-based or online we have that casino
Glenn Straub’s Polo North Country Club deal to buy Revel for $95.4 million was terminated on Feb 19th as a bankruptcy judge approved AC’s request to bring the sale to a halt. Revel, built at a cost of $2.4 billion, never turned a profit and closed after just over two years after opening on Sept 2. Straub’s proposal to reopen Revel under a different name as a smaller casino, hotel condominiums and a water park has now fallen flat.
The Dispute Continues
According to Straub, question marks regarding obligations to business tenants operating at Revel after his re-opening left him unable to meet the sale deadline that was due on February 9. The court ruled that Straub’s $10 million would be kept in escrow. The judge refused Straub’s request to extend the sale deadline through February, 28. While ironing out the tenancy issues, he had said he did not want to assume the leases of former tenants at the casino, including restaurants and a nightclub. According to Judge Gloria Burns, who called the case “long and tortured”, Straub was not permitted to wait for resolution of the previous Revel tenant’s appeals before settling the sale according to the contract.
Revel attorney John Cunningham stated that the casino will pursue the right to spend the $10 million deposit while Straub’s attorney, Stuart Moskovitz, said his client would not be satisfied with the Judge’s ruling. According to the Associated Press, Moskovitz said that they would be appealing, and settlement talks are on-going. The case could take months to be resolved according to the Judge.
Revel’s Troubled Past
This is now the second deal to collapse for Revel. A deal in November fell apart when Brookfield Asset Management jettisoned its $110 million deal due to contention concerning debt from the casino’s power plant (and only source of utilities).
Revel’s collapse is one of a long line of setbacks for Atlantic City’s troubled gambling market, which has almost halved in the last eight years. Last year, four out of its 12 casinos went out of business, 8,000 workers lost their jobs and revenue dropped to $2.74 billion compared to $5.2 billion in 2006.
