\n(Bloomberg) \u2014 Glenn Straub, the Florida developer who made a $90 million offer for the shuttered Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is considering buying the neighboring \u2014 and also closed \u2014 Showboat as well.<\/p>\n
\tCaesars Entertainment Corp., the largest operator of U.S. casinos, shut Showboat in August to reduce capacity in the East Coast gambling hub amid a persistent decline in revenue.<\/p>\n
\tStraub, 67, said he wants to acquire additional land in the city and promote non-gambling activities such as sports. As part of his plans for Revel, he said he\u2019ll drop the name and look for a casino partner to run the gambling operations in the property.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe building will not be a casino,\u201d he said today in a phone interview. \u201cIt might have a casino in it. We don\u2019t need gambling to support what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tOnce a gambling mecca on the U.S. East Coast, Atlantic City saw its fortunes decline in recent years as betting options expanded in neighboring states. Five of the city\u2019s 12 casinos have closed or said they may close this year.<\/p>\n
\tStraub said he wants more land to realize a broader vision for turning the resort town into a destination for athletics, citing as possibilities women\u2019s basketball and skateboarding. He said his model is the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, a 2,200- acre resort in Wellington, Florida, which he owns and has expanded through corporate and international promotions.<\/p>\n
\t\u2018Made Millions\u2019<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPolo was a dying industry and we made millions of dollars off of high-end advertisers and sponsorships,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tStraub said he approves of real estate sale covenants Caesars is seeking for Showboat that would prohibit gambling at that location.<\/p>\n
\tGary Thompson, a spokesman for Las Vegas-based Caesars, said the company hasn\u2019t been contacted by Straub but would be happy to speak with him about a sale. Caesars is the largest operator in Atlantic City, with three casinos, even after closing Showboat on Aug. 31.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe believe there\u2019s an oversupply of gaming positions in Atlantic City and that adding non-gaming amenities and attractions are the keys to recovery,\u201d Thompson said in an e- mail. \u201cOur goal is to sell Showboat as a non-gaming property.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tPay Cash<\/p>\n
\tStraub said that he\u2019ll pay cash for Revel if his bid is the winner in a Sept. 24 bankruptcy auction and that he hopes to renegotiate a power purchasing contract costing the resort $3 million a month, possibly through the intervention of the judge.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt is premature for us to discuss the energy contract since Mr. Straub\u2019s company does not yet own the facility,\u201d said Dan Lockwood, a spokesman for South Jersey Industries Inc., which co-owns the power plant that supplies Revel.<\/p>\n
\tBuilt at a cost of $2.4 billion, Revel was originally envisioned as resort first and a casino second. Struggling financially after its April 2012 opening, Revel introduced a \u201cGamblers Wanted\u201d marketing campaign last year. With its parent company, Revel AC Inc., filing for bankruptcy court protection twice, the resort ceased operations on Sept. 2.<\/p>\n
\tThe bankruptcy is In re Revel AC Inc., 14-bk-22654, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey (Camden).<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Bloomberg) \u2014 Glenn Straub, the Florida developer who made a $90 million offer for the shuttered Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is considering buying the neighboring \u2014 and also closed \u2014 Showboat as well. Caesars Entertainment Corp.,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}