It’s Plan B for the shuttered Revel Casino. It’s asking a bankruptcy court judge to terminate its deal to sell the building to Brookfield and allow losing bidder Glenn Straub to buy it instead. Straub had made a “stalking horse” bid to get the auction going with the expectation he’d end up owning the $2.4 billion property for under $100 million. He lost to Brookfield which now is backing out of the deal over debt service issues. It’s a huge blow to Atlantic City, already leading the nation in job losses. Executive Director of Stockton College’s Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism Israel Posner told NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams that it does not matter who buys Revel because what really matters is getting the previous Revel employees rehired.
Posner said that delaying the Revel deal affects the economy of Atlantic City because from the perspective of the thousands of employees who have worked at Revel and are looking to be reemployed at Revel, it doesn’t matter if it’s Brookfield or Straub or someone else. He said that what matters is that thousands of employees are rehired.
“If you look at the unemployment rate in the city and in the county, that’s probably the number one objective. The other important thing that happens is that if the Revel reopens and becomes something that allows it to reach its full value, it then goes back on the tax roles for the municipality and it starts paying taxes in a way that makes a difference for the municipality but also the taxpayers of Atlantic City and the taxpayers of Atlantic County,” said Posner.
Posner said that it is not critical that Revel is a casino.
“Revel is probably one of the most spectacular properties anywhere on the east coast of the United States,” said Posner.
He said that Straub has said that he wants to reopen it as a casino but time will tell if that happens, and it will take very smart marketing to make it work.
Posner said that what is unique about Revel, more than any other Atlantic City casino, is that it employed thousands of people but many of them were third party venders — restaurants, clubs and retail shops. So that has a very large impact on the non-gaming side which made it unique and helped Revel gain non-gaming revenue, said Posner.
“If you look at where Revel is located, it’s located in what is potentially one of the most attractive parts of Absecon Island, which is the southeast inlet of Atlantic City. That is the anchor for the development of that entire region. So it doesn’t necessarily have to be a casino. It’s critical that that anchor be there for that particular section of Atlantic City,” said Posner.