Billionaire Straub Closes On Revel, Phoenix Project to Invest 500 Million in Atlantic City
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Atlantic City, NJ (April 10th, 2015)– Billionaire developer Glenn Straub is the new owner of Revel Atlantic City. It is official as the deal was closed on Tuesday, April 8, 2015, as the agreed upon cost of 82 million dollars.
The deal is part of a larger financial plan by Straub to invest 500 million dollars in the Atlantic City area in what is called ‘The Phoenix Project’. Boxing and other sporting events in Atlantic City, with new sporting facilities, are sure to become higher profile.
According to Straub’s attorney, Stuart Moskovitz, the purchase price Revel, 82 million dollars, represents only three percent of what it actually cost to build the hotel and casino in Atlantic City, so it is a good deal, in terms of renovating and redesigning the Revel to bring back customers and generate new interest in Atlantic City.
Billionaire developer Glenn Straub discusses his plans for Revel Atlantic City
http://videos.pressofatlanticcity.com/Glenn-Straub-discusses-Water-Park-at-Revel–28327591
History of The Deal
Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns never entered into a final agreement terminating billionaire developer Glenn Straub’s Palm Beach Polo North Country Club original $95.4 million dollar offer to buy Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with $10 million dollars held in escrow. The door opened for one more try, Straub’s final offer of 82 million dollars for Revel was accepted, and closed on April 8, 2015.Straub plans to spend at least 500 million dollars to improve the 47 floor hotel and casino.
In November 2014, a Canadian firm lost an $11 million dollar deposit and backed out of a $110 million deal to buy The Revel due to unpaid debt from construction of the power plant, an unpaid debt the potential new buyer did not want to assume.
Polo North is working with its team to finalize the operational plan for the property to be spectacularly successful year round. Their plans include major construction of a fifty million dollar renovation and expansion of the exterior of the building, a fifty million dollar interior renovation which with a more accessible hotel lobby, a scaled down casino, a large medical health spa and facility, and Florida style controlled indoor and outdoor recreational facilities to include: a Ferris Wheel;sports facilities;concert facilities;a manmade mountain for skiing and snowboarding; a soccer franchise; and an indoor and outdoor water park. Straub will also offer Revel revelers, tourists and gamers high speed ferry or catamaran service from Manhattan to Atlantic City. A nightclub located within Revel has gone to court to stay open, presumably to try to retain its own operation. A 500 million dollar investment in the Atlantic City area, as stated earlier, is also part of the plan.
Revel cost $2.4 billion dollars to build. Revel closed its doors on September 2, 2014, after two years of operation, never having turned a profit. Revel appeared awkward, designed as a Las Vegas style casino which seemed unfinished, was difficult to access from the Atlantic City Boardwalk, never had regular bus service, offered inadequate perks versus the other hotel casinos of Atlantic City, and was overpriced and unpopular. Trump Plaza, Showboat and ACH (formerly the Hilton) all closed about the same time as Revel. Trump Taj Mahal was bought and saved by billionaire Carl Icahn, who owns Tropicana Casino & Resort.
Billionaire developer Glenn Straub’s outstanding record of success in Florida offers bright hope Atlantic City can be revitalized as a tourist destination in the near future, offering recreation of ongoing interest of far more than just hotel rooms, casinos and a boardwalk.
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