The billionaire property magnate that owns the former Revel Casino Hotel Atlantic City has reportedly revealed that he will not be meeting a self-imposed June 15 deadline to re-open the shuttered New Jersey property.
According to a report from The Press of Atlantic City newspaper, Glenn Straub made the revelation from his home i 7BALL CC n Florida on Thursday, while additionally stating that the six million sq ft Boardwalk property could still be sold “for the right price.”
“We are stubborn enough people,” Straub told the newspaper. “The casino is the hub of the wheel. There is no reason to open the property if it’s only half of a wheel. No question that all our properties are for sale for the right price. We have invested $20 million into the property. Every month, we have to pay $1.5 million in taxes.”
The 1,399-room Revel Casino Hotel Atlantic City cost $2.4 billion to build in 2012 but closed in September of 2014 after filing for the second round of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections. Straub subsequently spent $82 million to purchase the shuttered property via his Polo North Country Club real estate vehicle before September saw him re-brand the enterprise with its 150,000 sq ft casino as TEN Atlantic City.
After missing two previous self-imposed deadlines, Straub had reportedly hoped to re-open the property and its casino by the end of next week but this goal hit a stumbling block in late-January after the New Jersey Casino Control Commission ruled that the entrepreneur must first apply for a gambling license. The 69-year-old businessman immediately filed a lawsuit in hopes of getting this decision overturned and has long argued that he should not have to apply for a license because the casino is to be leased to a third party.
The Press of Atlantic City reported that Straub is now waiting on the outcome of this legal action before welcoming his first guests to TEN Atlantic City, while April saw New Jersey Governor Chris Christie call on the businessman to sell the venue because he “hasn’t been able to deliver” a re-opening.
Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian reportedly told the newspaper that the past couple of months have seen several groups express an interest in purchasing the property, which additionally contains 13 restaurants, a 32,000 sq ft spa, 55,000 square feet of retail space and a 7,000-space parking garage, and called its continued closure “very disappointing” as the structure is an “architecturally significant” building for the state.
“I’m here certainly if I can help [Straub] either open it or sell it,” Guardian told The Press of Atlantic City.