[toebone7]

Theres a lot of activity up in the marina district and the boardwalk.

Any renderings out there for the proposed 40 story tower at the Borgata? I'm itching to see a rendering of it. Anyone think it will complement the original sleek gold Borgata tower? I think the original borgata tower is one of the finest looking casino towers out there, Las Vegas included.

Any renderings for the new 40 story Harrah's expansion or the Trump Taj Mahal tower 2? I wonder if Taj 2 will just be a duplicate of the original Trump Taj Mahal tower.

I've also heard word that Showboat may be considering a new tower expansion on the north portion of its property.

The Sands may also be considering a new tower from what I've seen in the papers.

Any renderings of any of these? Post em if you got em!

[Born Pure Philly]

I don't have any info on the projects that may be going up soon but I was at the showboat a few months ago and they just got done redoing the back part of the building into a "House of Blues" theme. A club, and part of the casino is themed like it.

Here is the view from the boardwalk of the new look...

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/4949/showboathob3ol.jpg

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/9140/showboathob24me.jpg

[frank_pentangeli]

Are there any non-casino related towers going up?

[Born Pure Philly]

And for the second borgata tower this is what I found...

Over $550 million will be spent on a new 45-tower hotel that will add 500 rooms, 100 suites and 200 luxury condos. An additional 500,000 square feet of casino space, restaurants, nightclubs and stores are also being built. Construction is set to be completed by late 2007.

[toebone7]

Found this info about the Borgata Expansion on Boyd Gamings website:

Borgata Expansions Underway
― $200 Million Public Space Expansion
– Additional 500 Slots, 40 Tables, 85 Table Poker Room,
3 New Signature Restaurants, 2 Nightclubs
– Nationally Acclaimed Restaurateurs Bobby Flay, Michael
Mina and Wolfgang Puck Join Award Winning Dining
Roster
– Completion Expected Second Quarter 2006
― $325 Million Rooms Expansion
– New Hotel Tower with 800 Rooms and Suites
– Separate Porte Cochere and Front Desk
– Spa in the Sky with 3 Additional Pools
– Completion Expected Fourth Quarter 2007

[toebone7]

From US Business Review...a great article about the Borgata Expansion:


US Business Review's Article on Borgata Expansion (http://www.usbusiness-review.com/content_archives/Sept05/09.html)


I think this part is interesting: Sculptor Dale Chihuly, whose series of glass sculptures are featured in the existing Borgata, is also contributing to the expansion with "some pieces familiar to people and some pieces that are entirely different than what they've seen here before," Ballance notes. "It's going to be a very, very special place."

[JACKinNYC]

And for the second borgata tower this is what I found...

Over $550 million will be spent on a new 45-tower hotel that will add 500 rooms, 100 suites and 200 luxury condos. An additional 500,000 square feet of casino space, restaurants, nightclubs and stores are also being built. Construction is set to be completed by late 2007.


Well, the original Borgata is 40 stories. If this is 45 maybe it will be taller.

[toebone7]

From Asbury Park Press:

A Pennsylvania company is building five wind turbine towers, each about 300 feet high, on land near the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

Wayne, Pa.-based Community Energy Inc. says the windmills will have a total 7.5 megawatts of capacity, enough electricity to power about 3,000 to 4,000 homes, once they are completed and operational in December.

The wind farm will be the first in New Jersey, according to the state Board of Public Utilities, which provided a $1.7 million clean energy grant for the $12 million construction project.

Brent Beerley, Community Energy's vice president, described the project as a wind energy showcase that will be visible to visitors driving into the East Coast gambling mecca.

[JACKinNYC]

That's great news. Any promotion of alternative energy sources is welcome in my book.

[toebone7]

From the Las Vegas Sun-- I wonder if a CityCenter East would really fly?

"And Lanni said the success of the company's 50-50 partnership with Boyd Gaming Corp. in the spectacularly profitable Borgata megaresort has whetted MGM Mirage's appetite for additional investment in Atlantic City.

Although he said it would be premature to say that the company has made a firm decision to develop its 55-acre site next to Borgata, Lanni said MGM Mirage would probably decide by this time next year whether to build a condominium, hotel, retail and casino development on the choice parcel.

"We're going to develop there on our own; we're thinking of a CityCenter East project," he said. "A lot could be done on that property." "

[phillyskyline]

Anyone been to the new 40/40 club yet?

[toebone7]

It sounds like the 40/40 Opening was pretty successful to me....heres a clip from rwdmag.com about it.

Thursday, 27th October 2005

Jigga has got his Entrepreneur on again, as he opened the second of his 40/40 sports bar earlier this week, this time in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was joined by (is she or isn’t she pregnant) girlfriend Beyoncé and her singing chums Kelly and Michelle, as well as Diddy, Magic Johnson, Serena Williams, Terrell Owens, Eddie George, Barry Bonds, T.I. and Timbaland.

Not only did the man of the moment have a few faces from his impressive phonebook in attendance, he also sent jets and limos around the country to pick them up.

[giovanni sasso]

i was by there the second night 40/40 was open last week but unfortunately didn't get a chance to stop in.

as weird as the walk is, it's a great addition to AC, and with 40/40 as a nighttime anchor between it and the boardwalk, it can only be a good thing. the thing i hate about AC is how all the casinos pretty much encourage you to park cheaply in their garages and shuffle you straight from them into the casinos without ever having to set foot on the street.

anyway, it's pretty indicative of just how high borgata has raised the bar when it's already expanding. it single handedly changed the landscape of modern AC. the trop, sands and caesars have all added less-tacky, more-upscale expansions recently.

the house of blues' stage is really great, but getting inside is a big time pain in the ass. once inside though, the sound and scene are amazing.

and the windmill thing is amazing. jersey's a pretty progressive state as is, but to have giant turbines in atlantic city is just fantastic. go on 'head, AC.

[phillyskyline]

I guess no renderings yet:(

[williamphilapa]

Good to see AC is moving along! Can't wait for some renderings!.

[Lecom]

From the Las Vegas Sun-- I wonder if a CityCenter East would really fly?

"And Lanni said the success of the company's 50-50 partnership with Boyd Gaming Corp. in the spectacularly profitable Borgata megaresort has whetted MGM Mirage's appetite for additional investment in Atlantic City.

Although he said it would be premature to say that the company has made a firm decision to develop its 55-acre site next to Borgata, Lanni said MGM Mirage would probably decide by this time next year whether to build a condominium, hotel, retail and casino development on the choice parcel.

"We're going to develop there on our own; we're thinking of a CityCenter East project," he said. "A lot could be done on that property." "
That might start a whole new separate casino area in AC, with large developments contrasting with the old casinos in another area, like Fremont Blvd and The Strip in Vegas. Perhaps AC is up for a renaissanse.

[toebone7]

From an article from Philly Inquirer - by Jane M. Von Bergen

"Harrah's Entertainment Inc. will spend $550 million to upgrade and expand its entertainment, casino and hotel facilities in Atlantic City, the Las Vegas gambling company said.

The expansion, which will include a 964-room hotel tower, comes as Harrah's chief rival, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is continuing with its expansion plans, which include 800 new hotel rooms.

Harrah's 172,000 square feet of new retail and entertainment space will include a Red Door spa, an indoor pool and entertainment complex, a nightclub, a new Diamond Lounge, stores, a 650-seat buffet and a 500-seat coffee shop. The current buffet will be turned into space for 400 slot machines and 20 table games.

If Harrah's receives the approvals it needs, it hopes to open the entertainment and retail complex by the end of next year. The hotel tower should open in the second quarter of 2008, the company said."

[SJPhillyBoy]

Harrah's adding tower
By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff


ATLANTIC CITY

Harrah's Entertainment opened the House of Blues this year at Showboat. Next year, the Pier at Caesars comes aboard. On Thursday, the Las Vegas-based corporation announced an expansion at Harrah's Atlantic City.

The company plans to build a 964-room hotel tower, along with a 172,000-square-foot dining, retail and entertainment complex located in several stories between the new hotel rooms and an adjacent tower.

Shops, buffet

The retail and entertainment center, opening at the end of next year, will feature:

an Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa with 22 treatment rooms;

an ultra-lounge nightclub;

an indoor pool and entertainment complex;

new retail shops;

a 650-seat buffet;

a 500-seat coffee shop;

The existing Fantasea Reef buffet will be converted into additional gaming space, adding 400 slot machines and 20 table games.

Unmet demand

"This buffet will be even better," said Carlos Tolosa, Harrah's Eastern Division president. Although no deals have been set, the retail stores will feature recognizable names, Tolosa said. "We realize the Marina area is becoming more and more of a destination, and with next year's expansion at the Borgata, it would benefit both of us to have more lounges, restaurants and retail," he said.

The hotel tower will be completed by mid-2008.

"The new tower will allow us to capture more of the tremendous unmet demand for Atlantic City hotel rooms," Tolosa said. "There are few markets that have historically been as attractive, stable and business-friendly as New Jersey and we're pleased to make this sizable investment in the future of Atlantic City."

The decision shows tremendous confidence in Atlantic City, said Roger Gros, editor of Global Gaming Business magazine. "It won't necessarily be the last expansion for the company. Positive revenue figures the city is posting are proof."

Gros said Harrah's executives in the past scoffed at the importance of retail and dining attractions. But the success of Borgata and Tropicana changed the thinking, he said.

The need to add more nongaming amenities was driven home with the release Thursday of the third quarter earnings report by the Casino Control Commission.

Although Harrah's reported a 6.8 percent increase in gross operating profits, the casino hotel lags behind the city average in the percentage of revenue gleaned from outside the gaming hall.

The dozen casinos reported 21.7 percent of total revenues came from nongaming sources. For Harrah's, it was just 20.6 percent.

By contrast, nongaming revenues at the Borgata, which raked in more money in the casino than any other property in the third quarter, was 27.4 percent of the total.

Nongaming revenues at The Tropicana, home to the largest hotel in the state and The Quarter dining and retail attraction, accounted for 26.9 percent of the total.

The Borgata led the industry with gross operating profits of $76.2 million, an increase of 16.9 percent over the same period a year ago.

Tropicana reported a 64.6 percent increase.

Reach William H. Sokolic at (609) 823-9159 or wsokolic@courierpostonline.com
Published: November 18. 2005 3:00AM

[SJPhillyBoy]

Posted on Sun, Nov. 20, 2005

Vegas meets Times Square on beach

Atlantic City's newest attraction will be high-tech neon signs and huge graphic screens for $175 million shopping complex.

By Suzette Parmley

Inquirer Staff Writer

ATLANTIC CITY - Imagine 70,000 square feet of high-tech neon signs and graphics on giant screens glistening over the ocean, a sort of mini-Times Square on a luxury cruise liner.

That sea of signage, stretching from the famed Boardwalk to the beach here, is what Scott Gordon, president of Gordon Group Holdings L.L.C., envisions for the enormous structure now standing on the pier.

"It will give the city a whole new dimension - an attraction to bring people in," said Gordon, the developer behind the $175 million Pier at Caesars luxury shopping and entertainment complex.

But John DiFranco sees something quite different. The manager of Lo Presti's II, a pizzeria four blocks from the Pier, envisions few customers, and even fewer small shop owners along the Boardwalk. He fears most will probably be put out of business by the new Pier, which will be connected to Caesars casino through an enclosed skyway.

"It's bad because everyone will stay inside the casino," DiFranco, 33, said. "Why come out on the cold Boardwalk when you can stay warm inside?"

Looking out the front window of his pizza shop, DiFranco can see the Pier on his left and the $285 million Quarter retail, dining and entertainment complex to his right. The influx of well-heeled tenants has made everything on the Boardwalk more expensive, especially rent, he said.

"It's good for the city, but bad for us," he said. "We can't compete."

The two competing visions will soon play out.

The Pier, in its final phase of construction, is set to open in late spring. Renamed the Forum Shops at the Pier, it will feature 106 stores and more. About 90 will be retail and fashion boutiques, such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton, and it will include 15 nightclubs and restaurants with celebrity-chefs run by Stephen Starr of Philadelphia and Todd English of New York.

"The idea is for us to bring back the luster of the Caesars brand to the Boardwalk," said Carlos Tolosa, Eastern Division president for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the company that owns Caesars, Showboat, Harrah's and Bally's casinos.

Luster and a whole lot of light. The Gordon Group, which is based in Greenwich, Conn., announced a partnership earlier this month with New York-based Clear Channel Spectacolor to create the look of the advertising on the outside of the Pier.

Spectacolor is known for some of the giant signs that flank New York's Times Square. They include the towering Mr. Peanut on the Marriott Marquis Hotel and the Hershey World of Chocolate overlooking the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Broadway and 48th Street.

Expect similar mega-signs for the four-story Pier, said Gordon, whose father, Sheldon Gordon, developed the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

"It will be quite dramatic," he said, adding that some of the signs will be four stories high.

Michael Forte, president and chief executive officer of Spectacolor, faces a difficult sales challenge. He has been showing renderings of what the Pier will look like for several months to advertisers, mostly in New York.

"When you say, 'Atlantic City,' they still think lots of elderly people on buses," he said. "I have to convince a relatively jaded advertising community that Atlantic City is not what they all think it is."

Hanging huge signs on the Pier would not be a complete departure for Atlantic City or the Pier. Forte said the old pier was strewn with advertising in the early 1900s, and some of the billboards up and down the pier and the Boardwalk have been around for 100 years.

"Atlantic City had infinitely more signs than Times Square in that era," he said. "What the new Pier is doing is bringing that back in a very contemporary and modern way."

The Gordon Group, which took over the site in 2003, is putting the millions back into what was dubbed "Young's Million Dollar Pier" when John L. Young bought it in 1906. Over the years, it went through a series of investors who leased it for different purposes.

From 1950 to 1963, it was leased to Beach Amusement by Max Tubis and Harry Schwartz. They installed amusement rides, carnival attractions, and a miniature golf course.

In 1969, the pier was sold to JEM Corp., which also owned the whole block across from the pier. That land became the site for the Caesars casino, which opened in 1979.

Forte said he was surfing online for old images of Atlantic City when he came across black-and-white photos of the former pier. The photos were part of R.C. Maxwell Co.'s collection of advertising signs that is kept at Duke University's outdoor advertising museum.

When Forte gave his presentation before the city's Zoning and Planning Board two years ago, photos showing a Boardwalk filled with people and the old pier draped in vinyl signs were part of his presentation. The board approved the new Pier project, 7-0.

"People ask about the pier all the time," said Gary Brown, 35, who pushes rolling chairs along the Boardwalk. "Everybody remembers what it was like 40 years ago. They always ask me what the new pier is going to look like."

Located on the 50-yard line of the Boardwalk, Forum Shops at the Pier will measure 800 feet long and 200 feet wide - the equivalent to three entire buildings in Times Square.

Spectacolor has been livening up Times Square since the early 1970s. Forte, who joined the company in 1996, said it took years to get advertisers. "There were all those misconceptions about Times Square - the sex, sin and three card monte," he said.

Spectacolor also became the first to sell major national advertising in 2003 on the Las Vegas Strip, where it uses four giant LED screens with sound at the Fashion Show Mall.

In Atlantic City, The Walk, an eight-block retail-entertainment district, and the Quarter at Tropicana, which both opened last year, have helped to solidify the market as a retail and dining destination, and not just a gambling mecca.

"I think Atlantic City is under tremendous change," said Jackie Ershan, 68, who is from nearby Ventnor and walks the Boardwalk daily. "It's too fast for me, but I'm not the typical person that they're catering to."

Ershan, a retiree, said Atlantic City was catering to the young, affluent type. "They don't want people coming in on the buses," she said. "They had my generation when they had 'Buy One, Get One Free.' Now, it's time to move on."

Last week, construction crews were busy putting finishing touches on the new Pier. Only interior work remains.

"It's going to be beautiful," said Gary Dougherty, 60, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., who was strolling the Boardwalk with his father-in-law last week. Both stopped to gaze at the massive aqua-green-colored glass structure.

Customers at Caesars will not have to leave the casino to stroll over to the new Pier. Harrah's Entertainment is constructing a 60-foot enclosed bridge to connect the two.

The Pier will benefit from the marketing and advertising budget of its parent casino. The big push to sell ad space started this month, Forte said. He said he had plans to bus his entire sales team from New York to walk the Pier next month.

"Seeing it is believing it," he said.

[Lecom]

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/4949/showboathob3ol.jpg

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/9140/showboathob24me.jpg
More fake deco for Atlantic City:

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2004/10/313975.jpg
Completed in 2004

[toebone7]

I just saw the first of the giant windmills that are going up around the marina district...all i can say is they are HUGE...

the one thats up is really futuristic looking...one 3 blade white mill towering to the left of the borgata when going east on the AC expressway...its crane was still there.

i didnt have a camera w/me to snap a pic of it...maybe someone can grab a pic of it.

[SJPhillyBoy]

http://cmsimg.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BZ&Date=20051204&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=512040359&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&Q=80&DsRadius=4&MaxW=620&Maxh=620&title=0

[toebone7]

whoa...awesome rendering of all the windmills...

[JACKinNYC]

Cool.

[toebone7]

Heres the rendering of the new tower going up at Borgata from the Boyd investor presentation.

http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/8894/borgataexpansion2sx.th.png (http://img279.imageshack.us/my.php?image=borgataexpansion2sx.png)

[FlyersFan118]

WOW. That looks incredible.

[banned]

http://cmsimg.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BZ&Date=20051204&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=512040359&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&Q=80&DsRadius=4&MaxW=620&Maxh=620&title=0
I believe they are up and running now. I saw them on a flight back to Philadelphia last week. We flew up the coast and over Atlantic City before turning west for Philadelphia.

[williamphilapa]

Posted on Sun, Jan. 29, 2006



Atlantic City: Half dozen luxury condo projects are in the works.

By Suzette Parmley
Inquirer Staff Writer

ATLANTIC CITY - The thought of living near where they worked appealed to the Pipers. So when the couple married last fall, they bought the two-bedroom apartment they had been renting at the Bella in the city's Southeast Inlet section.

"I love the location," said John Piper, 28, a restaurant chef at Harrah's casino hotel here, which is within easy walking distance to where he lives with his wife, Tina Pisano-Piper, 25, a local real estate agent.

The Pipers look like the people that show up in the TV commercials for the casinos - happy, young and looking for fun.

That they have chosen to buy a home in this city of about 40,500 is another sign that the billions of dollars spent on new casinos, housing and shopping over the last five years is having more than a cosmetic effect on Atlantic City.

And not a moment too soon as casino operators anxiously await the effect that the advent of slot-machine gambling at Pennsylvania racetracks this summer will have on their $5 billion industry.

While in Reno, Nev., the gambling business is contracting and former casino hotels are being converted into condominiums, the condo projects planned for Atlantic City tend to be new construction.

There are a half-dozen luxury condo high-rises in development in and around Atlantic City. Four are in the city's Inlet section, including a 34-story luxury high-rise with 303 units called Marbella.

"People have rediscovered Atlantic City and found it's not just a gaming town," said Jim Maggs, who is behind the project. "The attraction is that there is tremendous value in Atlantic City. It has something that Las Vegas does not have, which is a beach."

M&J Development L.L.C., based in Atlantic City, intends to break ground in the spring on a six-story, 179-unit high-rise called Melrose Place, in the nearby Northeast Inlet.

Builder Bruce Toll said he planned to build a luxury residential high-rise with 400 units, priced at $1 million and up, on the 50-yard line of the Boardwalk. Toll, of Horsham, bought the site of the former Trump's World's Fair casino for $25 million in September from Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.

"The Borgata needs to be credited for showing how to access a whole different demographic, younger and more affluent," said Tom Scannapieco of the $1.1 billion Las Vegas-style mega-casino that made its debut in July 2003. "Clearly, the whole city is targeting that market."

Scannapieco was the original developer of the Bella, which was owned by Caesars Atlantic City casino for 15 years as a condominium rental property called the Regency. He bought the building last year to refurbish into luxury condos.

Advertised as "Atlantic City's first ultra-luxe condo," the 27-story Bella is cited by other developers as the project that ignited the current condo market. Its two-bedroom, two-bath units feature stainless steel appliances, Travertine stone floors, and imported Italian cabinetry. Scannapieco said about 55 percent of the 200 units had been sold. They start at $400,000 and can go to more than $1 million for penthouses.

The Southeast Inlet area is bordered by Atlantic and New Jersey Avenues, the ocean, and the Boardwalk. The Bella is a block and a half from the beach and Showboat casino. John and Tina Piper regularly walk to the new House of Blues at Showboat to see concerts.

Scannapieco said developers from New York, North Jersey and Florida were buying up land in the Southeast Inlet. He envisioned "shoulder-to-shoulder high-rises" there within five years.

"It will be the jewel, the Gold Coast of South Jersey," Scannapieco said. "There's a lot of developer activity that no one is aware of - projects that have not broken ground yet."

Maggs, who is based in Brielle, N.J., sees the same thing. He just recently purchased a 41/2-acre parcel in the area to develop into both high-rise and low-rise luxury condominiums.

"With other developers of national stature coming into Atlantic City, like Bruce Toll, it bodes well for Atlantic City's future," he said.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13736424.htm

[FlyersFan118]

This NEEDS to be posted.

http://cmsimg.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BZ&Date=20060331&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=603310341&Ref=AR&Profile=1003&Q=80&DsRadius=4&MaxW=560&Maxh=560&title=0

http://www.courierpostonline.com/app...NESS/603310341

Harrah's tower groundbreaking starts casino development boom

The $550 million project will rise 47 stories, towering over any other hotel in the city, with 964 rooms.

The expansion, set to open in mid-2008, also includes an Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon, restaurants and retail shops.

Another $100 million in renovations throughout the existing hotel casino is under way.

The tower comes as construction continues on a tower at neighboring Borgata, and a few months before Trump Taj Mahal breaks ground on a tower of its own.

[toebone7]

harrah's new tower is going to be the new tallest in ac :cheers:

another tower announcement may be coming soon:

From Associated Press and Newsday: "Investment bank Morgan Stanley has agreed to buy a vacant, 20-acre oceanfront parcel and is shopping for a casino company to develop what would be the 13th casino here...The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in Friday's newspapers that Hard Rock International of Orlando, Fla., would operate a $1 billion casino hotel on the site, but neither Scannapieco nor Hard Rock spokesman John Gogarty would confirm that. "

[Born Pure Philly]

Has there been any new news about Trumps new tower? It seems lieka big race to get the tallest tower with harrah's and the borgata going for it, trump may just get in there and steal it from all of them.

[williamphilapa]

Recent article from the Philadelphia Inquirer
_______________________________

Atlantic City three waysThis upwardly striving casino town has become a good bet for fun that's ritzy (a la Manhattan), glitzy (Vegas) and familiar (Philly).
By Amy S. Rosenberg
Inquirer Staff Writer
ATLANTIC CITY - Is this town turning into Manhattan South, as some real estate agents are buzzing?

If so, whatever happened to the goal of being the Vegas of the East?

And what's left of the old Philly Down the Shore?

We set out to learn where you can experience the three facets of this resilient seaside town. Amazingly, as property values surge, luxury condos spring up, and shrewd done-the-South-Beach-thing nightlife specialists take root, Atlantic City is starting to live up to some of the hype.

At least, if you know where to look.

So here is your guide to Manhattan South, Vegas of the East, and Philly Down the Shore. Pick your paradigm. Just don't expect to get comped the whole way anymore. That is very old-school.

Manhattan South

This concept is being fueled by the tower-building boom. Three casinos - Harrah's, Borgata, and Trump Taj Mahal - are adding towers that will be higher than anything now in town. Plus, condos are being planned for the vast stretch of empty lots, dilapidated housing and speculator wreckage that is the Southeast Inlet. One new 27-story condominium complex, the Bella "ultra-luxe" condos at 526 Pacific Ave., is selling units for upward of $450,000.

The real-estate agents are giddily renaming the neighborhood. The Southeast Inlet is being touted as the next "North Beach" - a hip, luxury seaside community of condos and maybe even a place to buy groceries (Atlantic City's only supermarket, the IGA, closed its doors last month; cue in Reality Check).

That dream is a ways off. For now, the neighborhood is still conducive to taking a golf club and a bucket of balls and making a de facto driving range, as one man was doing recently on a vacant expanse at Oriental and Rhode Island Avenues, a block from the ocean. Fore.

But the Manhattan South concept does have legs, fueled by the presence inside casinos of way-upscale restaurants and actual hip nightclubs. The kind where you can request VIP bottle service, as in ordering a $310 bottle of vodka, which happens to be one of the lower-end items on the menu at Mixx, the always-packed nightclub at the Borgata.

Mixx was the first to bring this very Manhattan (not to mention South Beach, and, as of about four or five years ago, Vegas) nightclub scene here. In Vegas, places such as Tao in the Venetian, created by the owners of the Marquee nightclub and Tao restaurant in New York City, have jumped on this trend.

"When I came from Miami, there was no bottle service in Atlantic City," said Eric Millstein, director of nightlife marketing for Borgata. "When we introduced it, people craved it. They wanted to feel special and exclusive and inclusive in a club setting. They're used to getting it in New York. Why shouldn't they get it here?"

And so at Mixx, the VIP bottle-service line is often as long as the line to pay $20 to get into the club and buy your drinks at the bar. The bottle-service customers get their own little table in their own little alcove or room, their own server, and all the pricey alcohol by the bottle that their wallets can handle. The two-story space gets the full nightclub treatment of sound and lights and dancers and cutting-edge DJs.

(Then again, the idea of bottle service is pretty radical, considering that most people in this town of comps still balk at paying for even a drink.)

Places such as 32 Degrees (the nightclub that replaces the Brulee dessert shop at 10 p.m.) at the Tropicana's Quarter aspire toward the VIP, bottle-service exclusivity model. That place, a more intimate setting than Mixx, is a regular stop for Philly athletes such as Allen Iverson.

Another nightclub with celebrity-watching potential, but outside the casino, is the 40-40 Club at 2120 Atlantic Ave., owned by rapper Jay-Z. This multilevel sports lounge with requisite VIP rooms - an import from New York City - was Terrell Owens' venue of choice for his birthday party last year.

The old standby hot spots, Club Tru (9 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) and Studio Six (12 S. Mount Vernon Ave.) - native nightclubs that pride themselves on an edgy New York vibe - are still going strong.

Another trend that could qualify AC as Manhattan South is the steak-house resurgence, including Gallaghers in Resorts, an offshoot of the New York steak house that has been on Broadway since 1927. Carmine's, a family-style Italian restaurant designed as "the quintessential New York restaurant" is also at the Quarter in the Tropicana.

Maureen Siman, vice president of marketing for the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority, suggested the Planet Rose bar inside the Quarter as a Manhattan-like spot, presumably by virtue of its cool decor: zebra-skin chairs, leopard-skin carpet, cool neon magenta-and-orange-lit bar, red walls. Could be Vegas, too.

The professional promoters also are looking at the shopping coming to town as being Manhattan-worthy: Gucci, Armani, Tiffany, and other Fifth Avenue shops will be part of the new Pier at Caesars that will open this summer in the old Ocean One Mall complex on the old Million Dollar Pier.

But, for a downtown shopping experience, look no farther than the Walk, the ever-expanding stretch of outlet stores, handsomely designed by the Baltimore-based Cordish Group. Even though they are outlet stores, they are good ones - check out PacSun, Brooks Brothers, J. Jill, Banana Republic, Ecco and the like.

This wildly successful experiment in remaking a downtown has brought the pleasure of big-city shopping to the formerly barren stretch between Atlantic Avenue and the Convention Center.

The Pier at Caesars, while bringing in New York shops, is at its heart a Vegas concept, modeled on the Forum Shops at Caesars Las Vegas. Which brings us to the next category.

Vegas of the East

Inside the four-story Pier - whose outside will feature massive neon billboards harking back to Atlantic City's more brash days - will be one very Vegas-y destination: the city's first wedding chapel, with a gorgeous ocean view, known as the Atlantic Club.

The pier also will feature a dancing-fountains light-and-sound show, with a computerized matrix of more than 150 independently controlled fountain nozzles and surround-sound audio. Dancing fountains are also very Vegas-y, as anyone who has walked by the Bellagio on the Strip knows. Cheesy, maybe, but high-tech-cool cheesy.

The other Vegas trend that has popped up is the bar/lounge right off the casino floor, complete with video poker built into the bar counter, deep leather and velvet chairs and couches, and draped walls to create a private environment in the midst of three-card poker tables. Bars that fill this bill include the B Bar at the Borgata - where a bored-looking Howard Eskin held court while broadcasting his WIP show one recent afternoon - the Xhibition Bar at Harrah's, Swingers Lounge at the Sands, the Liquid Bar at Trump Plaza, the Blue Martini bar at Bally's - you get the idea.

The Eden Lounge at Harrah's, right off the main walkway across from the slots, features live music every night and a small dance floor that grabs a strange mix of revelers in that Vegas, got-to-have-fun-right-now-don't-care-that-I'm-dancing-with-this-grandpa-dude kind of way. The adjacent Sapphire Bar features "flair bartending" - a la Tom Cruise's character in Cocktail.

And then there's the 25 Hours Bar at Resorts, where the Love Kittens, who star in the casino's New Burlesque show (hello, Vegas), like to mingle.

Beginning this month, the Tropicana is turning its entire Quarter into one big nightclub, to handle the overflow from such successful restaurants as Red Square and Cuba Libre. The casino will bring in DJs and mobile bars every Saturday night from 11 to 3 a.m., public relations director Katie Dougherty says.

Grafted onto the front of the Showboat Casino is a House of Blues, the only one in the Northeast (there's one in Vegas). There's a Foundation Room for members only, which sounds exclusive, and maybe it is, but you're just as likely to run into a local soccer mom as a celebrity there. The room, though, has an exotic decor, and there's a great ocean view from the terrace. Plus, the space apparently can be rented for a bar mitzvah, as a Margate family did recently. For that matter, Mixx was also the scene of a recent Margate bar mitzvah, though during the afternoon.

Which brings us to the old-time Atlantic City.

Philly Down the Shore

This role has always been part of the town's charm, but there are some additions to the category.

The most obvious Philly thing in town is TSOP - The Sound of Philadelphia - at the Tropicana's Quarter, trading on the Philly-sound theme. (Though the performer there recently was Patsy Cline impersonator Sherrill Douglas, also offering for sale her collection of signature crystal-studded sunglasses - which was sort of confusing.)

"It's Atlantic City meets Philly meets Vegas meets Texas," is how Sandy Clark, Douglas' sister and manager, put it. Whatever, it was working for the bus-tour party crowd.

Other Philadelphia transplants are Cuba Libre and an El Vez and Buddakan planned for the Pier. Mia - a Georges Perrier creation that replaced the Temple Bar at Caesars - also opened recently. Old standbys such as Angelo's Fairmount Tavern and Dock's Oyster House are still kicking. And the Ducktown section of town still has the best bread, plus an actual cultural offering: the renovated performing arts space, Dante Hall on Mississippi Avenue, where any South Philly opera buff can go to find his or her bliss.

The creation of beach bars in the last few years has brought a little party atmosphere to the beach itself, and they will be back, minus the South Beach import of Nikki Beach. Also back is the Deck at the Trump Marina, a cozy marina-meets-casino outdoor dance club.

The famous enclosed porch of the Knife and Fork Inn - the classic Atlantic City spot where Burt Lancaster took Susan Sarandon in the movie Atlantic City - has been beautifully redone by the Dougherty family (which bought the Knife and Fork from the Latz family this year).

With a tiled floor and those lovely stained-glass windows, the porch area has been transformed into a martini bar popular with locals and the off-the-casino-track crowd.

The ocean view from the corner where Atlantic meets Pacific makes the porch the perfect stop for a pomegranate martini or two. It may offer the truest melding of old and new - transcending any borrowed themes or models - that a town like Atlantic City has to offer: itself, and proud of it.

But ready for reinvention at the drop of a nickel.

[williamphilapa]

The Pier at Caesars is moving along well... awesome webcam setup on the website.

http://www.thepieratcaesars.com/main.html

Here is a couple of the renderings from the above website.
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/462/pier1rm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[banned]

Bump, this thread needs some new life

[vmx]

Is this the only thread for Atlantic City? :koko:
It seems odd that there are so little news and updates for this city.
If there is another thread, could someone post the linky?

[vmx]

Some recent news article from Phila Inquirer

Posted on Thu, Apr. 19, 2007

Atlantic City Hilton plans to expand

By Suzette Parmley
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Atlantic City's smallest casino wants to expand into the big time and has plans to more than double its size.
Tony Rodio, president of the Atlantic City Hilton and Resorts casinos, said tonight that the Hilton might soon undergo a $1- billion-plus expansion to add a 1,000-room hotel tower, 60,000 square feet of gambling floor space, shops, restaurants, and a 3,500-seat multipurpose room that will be used as a ballroom, convention and meeting space, and for shows and concerts.

"We've been working on this for a while, a little more than the past six months," he said. "I think . . . we do better per square foot than any other casino in the city, and there is a huge demand for our product."

The addition will double casino floor space to about 120,000 square feet. The casino also plans to add 3,000 parking spaces with a new garage that will be connected by an enclosed walkway to the 2,000-space current garage.

Rodio revealed the plans at a relicensing hearing for the Atlantic City Hilton Wednesday before the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The commission renewed the casino's five-year operating license.

He said tonight that he would present the plans to a special meeting of executives of Colony Capital L.L.C., majority owner of the Atlantic City Hilton's parent company, Resorts International Holdings. The Las Vegas meeting will include Thomas J. Barrack Jr., chief executive officer of Colony Capital, of Los Angeles.

"We've reviewed the plans with our chief operating officer, Roger Wagner, and the Hilton's chief executive officer, Nick Ribis," Rodio said. "But they have not been approved by Colony Capital as of yet."

Colony also owns casinos in Mississippi and Indiana.

Rodio said the company had retained the architectural firm of Bergman & Walls for the Atlantic City Hilton's expansion. The firm designed the original building, as well as the Mirage, Treasure Island and Paris casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

[vmx]

Here is another article from Phila Inquirer.

It has a some news about a bunch of projects in the city

Posted on Wed, Apr. 25, 2007

Hilton's plans reflect a larger-scale Atlantic CityCasinos in the resort are becoming taller, roomier, and much costlier to build. The Hilton hopes to expand to keep pace.
By Suzette Parmley
Inquirer Staff Writer
ATLANTIC CITY - Size matters in this seaside gambling mecca.
With at least four $1 billion gambling behemoths to be built in the next five years, the resort's smallest casino - the Atlantic City Hilton - has plans for a $1 billion expansion to more than double its size so it can compete in a market that has taken on a much larger scale.

"It will be a Borgata-like property," said Tony Rodio, president of the Atlantic City Hilton and Resorts casinos, referring to the golden-hued, Las Vegas-style mega-facility that redefined Atlantic City and became its top-grossing casino. "The Atlantic City Hilton is a wonderful little property that's just too small to compete with the big guys."

Rodio presented the plan to executives of Colony Capital L.L.C., which owns the Atlantic City Hilton's parent company, Resorts International Holdings Inc., late yesterday in Las Vegas.

"The meeting went well, and Colony is evaluating the project," Rodio said last night.

The Hilton owns land - along Pacific Avenue to Atlantic Avenue, and from Boston Avenue to two blocks north, heading toward the Tropicana Casino Resort - that could be used for expansion.

The casino floor would double, to about 120,000 square feet. Hilton also plans to add a 1,000-room hotel, restaurants, shops, a theater, and a 3,000-space parking garage.

The plan reflects the new climate in Atlantic City, where being small and outdated, like the former Sands Hotel Casino, can mean extinction. The Sands closed in November after it was bought by Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas, which plans to build a much more substantial, $1.5 billion facility.

The Hilton was built by casino mogul Steve Wynn and opened as the Golden Nugget in 1980. Wynn sold it in 1987, and it was renamed the Atlantic City Hilton.

Rodio said the nearly 27-year-old casino had been constrained by its size and routinely had to turn hotel customers away. It last expanded a decade ago, when 300 hotel rooms were added.

The Hilton's 804 hotel rooms are the fewest among Atlantic City's 11 casinos, but its 96.4 percent occupancy rate was the highest.

"We have to turn away between 30,000 to 35,000 people a month who want to stay with us because there's nowhere to put them," Rodio said.

Gross operating profits at the Hilton increased 79 percent last year to $51.8 million.

But with the advent of slots competition in Pennsylvania in November, the restraints of the Hilton's size were beginning to show. Slot-machine revenue was down 6 percent, table-games revenue fell 10.2 percent, and total revenue decreased 7.4 percent last month compared with a year earlier, according to figures from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

The Hilton plans to add a 1,000-room hotel tower; 60,000 square feet of gambling-floor space; shops; restaurants; a 3,500-seat multipurpose room that will serve as a ballroom, convention and meeting space; and an events center for shows and concerts.

Rodio first revealed the expansion plans last Wednesday at a relicensing hearing for the Hilton before the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

The timing may be in the Hilton's favor. This month, Colony announced that one of its casinos - Resorts East Chicago - was being sold to Ameristar Casinos Inc. of Las Vegas for $675 million, some of which could help finance the Hilton's expansion.

Rodio knows he has to move fast.

At least four casinos, owned by Morgan Stanley, Pinnacle, MGM Mirage and a private investor group from Atlantic City, are expected to open here by 2012 - putting intense pressure on small casinos to expand their business.

One of the new operators - Revel Entertainment Group, L.L.C. - announced yesterday that it had selected Tishman Construction Corp. to build its $1 billion-plus casino on 20 acres on the northern end of the Boardwalk. The owner of that site is Morgan Stanley, the investment-banking firm.

The existing competition also has been expanding. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Harrah's Marina and the Trump Taj Mahal casinos are adding hotel towers. The Tropicana is negotiating to add a boutique hotel next to its property.

Plans for a new hotel at the Hilton have been discussed since Wallace Barr was head of Caesars Entertainment Inc., which formerly owned the Hilton. The hotel was sold to Colony in late 2004 when Harrah's Entertainment Inc. was acquiring Caesars Entertainment.

"It's a great idea. They have a tremendous amount of land to work with," said Barr, who at the time negotiated the land deal for the proposed Hilton expansion. "It can't continue to exist as the smallest casino in Atlantic City."

Barr reemerged from retirement last spring as part of a local investor group that wants to build a $1 billion casino next to the Hilton.

A 30-year veteran of the gambling industry, Barr said the days of building $500 million casinos with 375-foot-high hotels and 500 rooms were long gone. Building-height restrictions in Atlantic City were eased after Bader Field closed in 2006, permitting towers of up to 800 feet that can hold 2,000 to 3,000 rooms.

He also said $1 billion was now the minimum to build a casino in the city.

"The last thing we want to do is build a Bally's or a Trump Plaza from the 1970s and 1980s that will clearly not be competitive," Barr said of his proposed casino. "You have to build for what Atlantic City is today and let the rest of the world catch up."

[SJPhillyBoy]

There is TONS of stuff going on development wise in AC. I just don't post most of it. Within 5 years, there will be at least three, maybe four NEW $1-2 Billion dollar Las Vegas style casinos.
They removed height restrictions for the buildings since Badger Field is closed so some of the towers going along with these new casinos will be in the 800 foot range.
Everything is going up-scale.

[vmx]

There is TONS of stuff going on development wise in AC. I just don't post most of it. Within 5 years, there will be at least three, maybe four NEW $1-2 Billion dollar Las Vegas style casinos.
They removed height restrictions for the buildings since Badger Field is closed so some of the towers going along with these new casinos will be in the 800 foot range.
Everything is going up-scale.

So, why don't you post "TONS of stuff" here then, SJPhillyBoy?
I am from Philly too, but I am interested in AC projects as well...

[kazpmk]

The construction boom in this city is great. According to emporis the Harrah's Expansion Tower is 557 ft and UC and the Trump Taj Mahal Tower II is now UC (450 ft.) I would like to add them to the USA construction list but I don't know what year construction (foundation work) began for these towers. Is there anyone out there that knows??

[remo940]

Although there have been 7 or 8 high rise towers flashed around the city hall not one has put a shovel in the ground. The larger spectulators are trying to flip their ocean front block assembledges for about $300 per sq. ft. There doesn't seem to be a market for high end product yet.

[oreo]

bringin this one back from the dead, heres an old (May 29th i think) cellphone picture of a newspaper article photograph of the harrahs expansion-
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/6066/sexpansionvr1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

its dated and there are newer pics on the philly thread, but its somethin in this dead thread

[twicedead]

Here's the link to today's Press of AC. It also mentions the Borgata's and Harrah's Expansion.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/business/story/7495372p-7391496c.html

[christopher1]

The architecture boom in Atlantic City is amazing,

There will be many new casinos within the next 5 years. Currently:

Harrah's bay tower II - structure is up to the 35th floor and curtain wall is up to about 30

Trump Taj Mahal Tower II - Structure is up to the 14th floor and the exterior wall is to go up soon.

Borgata Tower II - Almost Complete.

[christopher1]

Anyone in Atlantic City?

Go take some pics.

[banned]

I was yesterday. My money is still there.

[vmx]

some pics would be nice...
anyone?

[harryc]

Whatever happened to the big steel casino that was built around the 2 houses that wouldn't sell.

Last I saw it ( 80s ) it had been stopped and there was a 4 story rusted skeliton
looming over these 2 small bldgs - the owners had refused to sell.

[christopher1]

Did you stop by the Taj or Harrah's or the Borgata

Check out the new towers under construction? At the Taj you can go to the second floor down by the meeting rooms and walk out the the promenade on the side of the casino (perpendicular to the beach). You can get a sick view of the new tower under construction.

Also, the new indoor pool at harrah's is incredible. Palm trees, cabanas, its like you're in CA. Check it out.

[christopher1]

they call the new indoor pool at harrahs "tropical paradise"

http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/harrahs-atlantic-city/casino-misc/indoor-pool-detail.html

[christopher1]

found this image on the web for the taj mahal

http://www.khl.com/news/images//july07/taj%20mahal%20ocean%20view%20(gif).gif

[banned]

Did you stop by the Taj or Harrah's or the Borgata

Check out the new towers under construction? At the Taj you can go to the second floor down by the meeting rooms and walk out the the promenade on the side of the casino (perpendicular to the beach). You can get a sick view of the new tower under construction.

Also, the new indoor pool at harrah's is incredible. Palm trees, cabanas, its like you're in CA. Check it out.
I was at the Borg. It's topped out, the curtain wall is a few levels from the top. There seems to be some sort of crown but I can't explain it any further.

I did see the Taj site and I must say that it appears to be moving very slowly.. But I only saw it for a small bit. No pics of either.

[christopher1]

Cool,

I'm sure they will speed up after they get the typical guestroom floors going.

[twicedead]

Some exciting news in A.C. Plans for a $2B Casino on the boardwalk planned. Pinnacle should be releasing their plans soon for a similarly priced casino/hotel. Should get interesting down there real quick.

Here's the articile from pressofac.com
____________________________________________________

Plans revealed for $2B. casino hotel

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
(Published: August 28, 2007)

ATLANTIC CITY - Revel Entertainment Group, an upstart gaming company backed by Wall Street investment giant Morgan Stanley, plans to develop a $2 billion casino hotel that will top out at nearly 4,000 rooms and tempt customers with an array of retail and entertainment attractions.

Revel wants to build two hotel towers of 1,936 rooms each, but market conditions will dictate the timing of the second one. The towers will soar 700 feet high, becoming the tallest buildings in town and dwarfing anything else currently on the Boardwalk.

Kevin DeSanctis, Revel's chief executive officer, said the emphasis on hotel rooms fits in with the city's evolution from a gambling market historically dominated by daytrippers to one that targets wealthier overnight guests.

"When you think about Atlantic City today, the reality is that Atlantic City just can't rely on the convenience customer anymore," he said of gamblers who stay for only a few hours before heading home. "From our perspective, in order to attract a customer to stay overnight, you have to give them reasons to stay overnight. That's exactly what this property is designed to do."

The 48-story towers will be built in two phases. Combined, they will give Revel more hotel rooms than any other Atlantic City casino. But if Revel elects to stay with only one tower, four other casinos in town will have more rooms based on their existing inventory or expansion projects that will open in 2008.

Before moving forward with construction of the second tower, Revel will study the market and decide on the proper mix of suites and standard rooms, DeSanctis explained.

"I'd love to build the two towers first," he said. "But the reality is, we're not exactly sure what types of rooms will make sense. So if the customers like more suites, then we'll build more suites. But if they like more rooms, then we'll build more rooms."

Revel is clearing the 20-acre oceanfront tract where the casino is planned. The site is bordered by New Jersey, Oriental and Metropolitan avenues, overlooking the Boardwalk next to Showboat Casino Hotel. A grand opening is scheduled in 2011.

This is the first casino developed by Revel, which has the financial backing of investment partner Morgan Stanley. Preliminary estimates indicate the price tag will be about $2 billion, nearly twice the cost of the $1.1 billion Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, the city's newest and most expensive casino.

"It's in the $2 billion range. I think that's reasonable," DeSanctis said.

Revel has not yet named the casino and is about a week away from releasing architectural renderings to the public. The dimensions of the project, made public for the first time, are contained in Revel's application with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for a Coastal Area Facilities Review Act building permit.

Dennis M. Farrell Jr., a gaming analyst for Wachovia Capital Markets, predicted that Revel's casino will do for the northern end of the Boardwalk what the trend-setting Borgata did for the Marina District when it opened in 2003.

"Just imagine what the reception would be if Borgata was on the Boardwalk," Farrell said. "It will really help the northeastern end of the Boardwalk kind of blossom. As you put more bodies down there, you'll really have more excitement in that area."

Revel is planning to have 168,610 square feet of casino space, second only to the 178,815 square feet of gaming space at Bally's. However, Bally's combines the gaming space of Bally's Park Place, the Claridge Casino Hotel and the Wild Wild West Casino all within one complex collectively known as Bally's Atlantic City.

What will really distinguish Revel's casino from its rivals is the amount of retail, entertainment and dining space - slightly more than 500,000 square feet worth. A 5,500-seat special events center boasting 120,000 square feet of space is part of the retail and entertainment component.

"I think it's pretty diversified in terms of the dining, retail and entertainment," DeSanctis said. "The retail component is not as large as The Quarter. What we're really focused on is dining and entertainment."

The Quarter, the Latin-themed retail and entertainment complex at Tropicana Casino and Resort, features 200,000 square feet of space within a mall-like setting. Revel will have about 144,200 square feet of retail space, but the added dining and entertainment attractions will give the new casino more combined nongaming space than any of its competitors, analysts say.

Revel will also have Atlantic City's first casino wedding chapel, a Las Vegas-like touch that DeSanctis thinks is a strong draw for tourists who view the resort town as an up-and-coming honeymoon destination.

"We'll have a great hotel and we're going to have tremendous dining and entertainment options," DeSanctis said. "We're right there on the beach, so we think this is a place where a lot of folks will like to come and get married. It's very much a resort experience."

To e-mail Donald Wittkowski at The Press:

DWittkowski@pressofac.com

[banned]

That is some news. I've been waiting to hear about that project, as I've heard that it may hae been stalled. Yet, I've seen some heavy construction machines on the grounds for the last few months.

[Seely32]

Can Anyone get any pictures?

[twicedead]

In the article it says designs will be unveiled soon.

[nimrod]

These two pictures are a bit old (October 06). But the first is Trumps new tower or at least the footprint and the second is the land to the north of Showboat where Morgan Stanley is building.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/scylla108/AC10-30-06014-1.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/scylla108/AC10-30-06013.jpg

[vmx]

finally, some pix! thx...

i have a suggestion: what if the moderator renames this thread to say - Major Boom in NJ, maybe this thing will come to life? :yes:

[Empire Builder]

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/1685/082907144911me4.th.jpg (http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=082907144911me4.jpg)

[Empire Builder]

the first one is the north face of the Water Club tower at borgata
here's another one:

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3417/082907144711qh8.th.jpg (http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=082907144711qh8.jpg)

[Empire Builder]

and finally, Harrahs:

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/4541/082907144811hv5.th.jpg (http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=082907144811hv5.jpg)

taken 8/29 from the north parking lot at Borgata

not bad for a cell phone

[Renton]

Kinda Deja Vu. Before finding this link to A.C. i was in virtual earth doing the old birdseye view of the northeast part of the city. Still a few home owners holding on. And this pic shows that. Must be weird for them with such empty lots all around. I'm for the public on most issues, so if the casino's want these lots, they really should pay well above value to comp. these guys. Think if this was your life long household. On the flipside, think of the size of the mega casino that could be built if they had this entire area all the way to the inlet. I'm sure Revel knows that well. Also, whats the latest on Steve Wynn's move back into the city. Read some articles about that earlier in the year, and its been quiet since. I know he mentioned about doing something with the old convention center and possible doing something at the old bader field airport.

[Empire Builder]

Don't quote this as accurate information, but i read somewhere (don't remember where) that Wynn would use the Bader field airport to build a resort only if he got a steep discount on the property. But Pinnacle (which is building on the Sands) and Revel put up a stink since they will be paying a premium for their oceanfront property, knowing that people will more likely be attracted to the Wynn property. They threatened to cancel their projects if Wynn got a discount on Bader.

--again, don't count this as totally accurate, considering I can't remember where i put my keys each day. But when it comes to skyscrapers and developments, i tend to retain a bit more information.

[twicedead]

You got it pretty much on the money. Pinnacle is really just posturing. The Bader field debate will take years where as Pinnacle will need to start construction at the end of next year to hit their 2011 target and they really need to hit that target with all the other construction going on.

There was talk of Wynn partnering up with Trump where Trump Plaza is. Tear that down and build a mega resort, but to do that they'd have to tear down the 70's addition to Boardwalk Hall and their will be some resistance to that, not to mention Wynn and Trump actually working together long term.

Bader field, if you look at google maps, is such a big piece of land that nothing will happen anytime soon. THe problem is that their they'd need to build an offramp that goes from the AC expressway over the inlet to Bader Field since the Black Horse Pike couldn't handle the traffic. So that adds another layer of chaos that may take another year or two after to figure out.

[twicedead]

The Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson are closing to reopen as a boutique hotel with 2 Stephen Starr restaurants. The development is being organized by Curtis Bradshaw who did the Congress Hall in Cape May. Here's the link.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/top_story/v-printer/story/7499581p-7396386c.html

[SJPhillyBoy]

Revel submits plans to build 3,800-room Atlantic City hotel

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY
A new casino to be built by Revel Entertainment Group will feature two hotel towers with a total of 3,800 rooms, and become the tallest building in the city.

The company, which had already announced its intention to build in Atlantic City, filed plans last week with the state and city.

The project, which should be ready by 2011, is to be built on 20 acres just north of the Showboat Casino-Hotel.

"We look forward to continuing our work with local and state authorities and gaming regulators to develop a distinctive beachfront casino entertainment resort that will help define the future of Atlantic City while creating jobs, tax revenues and other sustainable economic benefits for the region," said Kevin DeSanctis, the company's chairman and CEO.

Revel applied last week for a Coastal Area Facility Review Act permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection, and filed a site plan application with Atlantic City's planning board.

The new casino site will be bordered by Oriental, New Jersey and Metropolitan avenues, and will include more than 1,000 feet of boardwalk frontage.

Revel has not yet named the new casino, which will offer 150,000 square feet of casino space, and 500,000 square feet of dining, retail and entertainment space.

It will have more hotel rooms than any other casino in Atlantic City.

Revel is partnered with investment firm Morgan Stanley to build the new casino, which is expected to cost about $2 billion.

And in a further nod to Atlantic City's race to re-create the Las Vegas experience in New Jersey, the new casino is expected to include Atlantic City's first casino wedding chapel.

Revel's project is one of two new casinos planned to open on the Atlantic City beachfront in 2011. Pinnacle Entertainment is demolishing the former Sands Casino Hotel and plans to open its own $1.5 billion casino around the same time as Revel's opens.
Published: September 14. 2007 3:10AM

[vmx]

good find SJPhillyBoy...

who knows, maybe this pretty ambitious project will take off the ground...

speaking of "Atlantic City's race to re-create the Las Vegas experience in New Jersey", how come AC experience still feels like about a decade behind Las Vegas? I was in Las Vegas in 2001 (and twice since, while living in Philly) and felt good about loosing my $ vs. being in AC 2 months ago and felt like I was beeing robbed blind in a daylight?

anyhow, I think AC needs more attractions, imho... so, bring 'em on, wedding chapels, bunge diving, etc...

[twicedead]

A few posts before I had Press of AC's article announcing the Revel's development. Typically, it takes about a week for the Philly paper's to run a story that has already run down here,but the Press of AC will run anything and everything for the Casinos since they cover a significant portion of their ad revenue.

There is a lot more development in the works in AC. Phase III of The Walk Outlets, Main Street Project and redeveloping the traffic flow around town which should be interesting. Also talks of some sort of people mover, gondola or monorail to ease traffic.

[christopher1]

This video is from a few months ago. I think they are up to the 14th or 15th floor now. Also, I believe the exterior is also starting to go up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfdRnCVkQB8&mode=related&search=

[AC11]

Here is the new boutique hotel replacing the Holiday Inn/Howard Johnson. $93m renovation, 2 Steven Starr Restaurants, a rooftop pool with private cabanas and a spa.

http://www.11floor.com/chelsea_house.jpeg

[christopher1]

Love the pink!

[Empire Builder]

Dude I don't know about that boutique hotel rendering - I'm not a huge fan of the pink but it's not the worst part - the marquis with the hotel name just completely throws off the "sleek" image.
(long pause)
Nope, definitely not a fan.
Going back to VMX's post - I have to agree 100%. Maybe it's just Jersey, but AC does not have the same feel of vegas, and I'm not sure a huge mega resort will change that. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the Revel and Pinnacle projects get built - but this will always be AC - where you drive down Atlantic Avenue and see nice casinos on one side and check cashing, payday loans, old chinese food, scary people, dangerous people, etc. and everything else on the other side. At least in Vegas you REALLY have to go off the strip to find that.
Of course, that's just my opinion, i could be wrong (props to Dennis Miller)

[AC11]

The focus of Atlantic City should not be driving down Atlantic Ave, but walking down the boardwalk and seeing huge resorts on one side and the beach and Atlantic Ocean onthe other side. Vegas will never have that. Ever. The Boardwalk is AC's strip. Vegas has some very seedy areas when you leave the strip. The road from the Airport to the strip looks pretty bad.

[christopher1]

I was just kidding.

The renderings looks like it came out of first year studio at NJIT.

[christopher1]

Hey the check cashing places are in Vegas too. Been down by the Stratoshphere lately?

[bryson662001]

There is no neighborhood in Atlantic City half as bad as Fremont St east of downtown Las Vegas.

[twicedead]

I'm not sure about the rendering but I do have faith in Curtis Bradshaw who rehabbed Congress Hall in Cape May and had some very important initiatives as head of AC's CRDA so it has a bit of capital in the bank for me. I've hated pretty much every casino design pre-Borgata for lack of creativity so maybe a better rendering will help grow confidence, but I kinda like the Miami Beach old-school look and it will definently appeal to the demo he goes for.

[christopher1]

BTW his name is Bashaw. Bradshaw is some football player or announcer or something.

[remo940]

Has anyone seen the billboard on the AC Expy
Check out the site www.digeorgeatlantic.com

The Top Secret project is a first in RE marketing as far as I know. ??

[SJPhillyBoy]

Sands Casino Hotel implosion set

By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff

ATLANTIC CITY - The former Sands Casino Hotel will implode at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 18, following a fireworks display.

The event marks the first casino hotel implosion in Atlantic City and on the East Coast and the state's first nighttime implosion.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine is expected to attend the event, joining Pinnacle Entertainment CEO Daniel R. Lee, Mayor Robert Levy and others for comments in the half-hour before the 21-story building is destroyed. A perimeter will be set up to provide the best viewing options.

The demolition will occur rain or shine.

''In fact, a little mist would keep the volumes of dust down,'' said Kim Townsend, CEO of Pinnacle Atlantic City. In addition to allowing a light show to be part of the festivities, the evening time frame permits final prep work during the daylight hours.

''That was critical,'' Townsend said.

Implosion is a safer technique than the wrecking ball, Townsend said.

While visitors will see a building fall in a blink of an eye, there is far more involved. Over the next four weeks, the demolition team from Controlled Demolition Inc. will design, drill and place explosives throughout the hotel's interior.

R. E. Pierson Construction Co., the general demolition contractor, will oversee any accompanying mechanical demolition, materials recycling and debris removal.

It will take months to clear the debris from the implosion site. Some 500 truckloads of debris have already been carted away from the site, each with 22 tons of junk. In the end, more than 100,000 tons of concrete will be removed.

In addition to the implosion, contractors will clear away some of the low rise buildings within the footprint.

The demolition will also mark the end of an era for a casino hotel that opened in 1980 as the Brighton in honor of its famous predecessor. As the Sands, the hotel was home to performers such as Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, Sheryl Crow and Frank Sinatra.

But in the years prior to its closing last November, the Sands fell on hard times, a victim of its location off the boardwalk. When Harrah's Entertainment bought Caesars, it sold the parking lot and storefronts between the hotel and the boardwalk, paving the way for Pinnacle's purchase of the Sands from financier Carl Icahn for $250 million last September. The deal involves land stretching from the old Traymore Hotel site along the Boardwalk across Pacific Avenue.

''The implosion signals the beginning of a very important chapter in Pinnacle's development and in the growth of Atlantic City,'' Lee said.

The Las Vegas corporation anticipates construction of a $1.5 billion plus mega resort on a par with Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Environmental testing is complete. Pinnacle is meeting with owners of smaller parcels expected to be part of the project. At this time, the aging Madison Hotel adjacent to the Sands will not be part of the project. The company is not yet ready to reveal a design or name, Townsend said.

''We're concerned about getting the schematics and design concepts right. This is expensive real estate here, and the canvas is only so big. It takes an enormous amount of time to get it right,'' she said.

Reach William H. Sokolic at (609) 823-9159 or bsokolic@camden.gannett.com
Published: September 24. 2007 7:23AM

[SJPhillyBoy]

http://cmsimg.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BZ&Date=20070924&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=709240345&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&Q=90&DsRadius=4&MaxW=650&Maxh=650&title=0

Authorities investigate cause of hotel blaze

By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff

ATLANTIC CITY
Officials are unsure if a fire Sunday will delay the opening of a hotel under construction adjacent to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

"Until we can understand what needs to be corrected, we don't know about any delays in the timetable," Borgata President Larry Mullin said.

The fire broke out about 7:30 a.m. Sunday at the site of The Water Club.

"The sprinkler system engaged immediately and an alarm went out," said Mullin, who arrived at 8 a.m. to a scene of smoke and flames.

Debris fell from the sides of the building and city firefighters had the blaze under control in about an hour, Mullin said.

"No one was hurt, thank God," Mullin said.

About a dozen people were on site at the time. No one at the Borgata was evacuated, Mullin said.

Police shut down the tunnel connector from the Atlantic City Expressway and closed all Borgata entrances, snarling traffic throughout the marina district.

But area traffic still slowed the arrival of fire trucks, Atlantic City Fire Chief Dennis Brooks said.

Flames stretched from the base of the building to the top, Brooks said.

"Certain material was exposed that wouldn't be that way if the building was completed," Brooks said. "The flame spread fast and furious, but the building ran out of flammable burning material by the time we arrived. It was pretty intense. There was lots of black smoke."

The fire reached three alarms. Firefighters from other municipalities staffed Atlantic City stations so personnel could handle the fire.

Visible damage was limited to the south side of the 43-story building.

Investigators were at the scene by mid-afternoon.

The Water Club is scheduled to open as an upscale hotel by the end of March. It will feature 800 rooms, five swimming pools, a spa and retail shops. It will not contain a casino but will connect to Borgata.

Reach William H. Sokolic at (609) 823-9159 or wsokolic@courierpostonline.com
Published: September 24. 2007 3:10AM

[AC11]

Images of the actual fire.

http://www.11floor.com/borgata-fire-390.jpg
http://www.11floor.com/borgatafire3a.jpg

[christopher1]

Anyone visit the new pool at Harrah's yet??
http://southjerseyvideomagazine.com/2007/05may/05252007thepool.jpg

[AC11]

Anyone visit the new pool at Harrah's yet??
http://southjerseyvideomagazine.com/2007/05may/05252007thepool.jpg

I have and it is pretty incredible. Very impressive when you walk in for the first time.

[twicedead]

A lot of us have been hearing rumors of this for some time and it was just a matter of time until it was announced.

_________________________________________________________________



MGM Mirage plans multibillion-dollar casino resort for Atlantic City

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
(Published: October 4, 2007)

See map of project

ATLANTIC CITY - No longer content with building a mere casino, gaming giant MGM Mirage Inc. plans to develop a mini-city of gambling, hotel towers and luxury condominiums that would dramatically redefine the Atlantic City skyline.
The estimated $4.5 billion to $5.5 billion project would mimic the company's huge $7.4 billion CityCenter project under construction on the Las Vegas Strip, although on a smaller scale, according to people familiar with the plans.

MGM envisions a casino complex featuring three hotel towers of 1,000 rooms each and high-end retail on par with the acclaimed Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. In addition to its mammoth size, what would distinguish the MGM project from other Atlantic City casinos are plans for posh condos that would start at $1 million and top out between $5 million and $6 million, officials said.

MGM's board of directors may give the development the green light when it holds its next meeting, reportedly Tuesday. In February, the board approved $20 million to design a project that would rise on 70 acres next to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in the Marina District.

MGM is a 50-50 owner of Borgata with Boyd Gaming Corp., but the company has been tantalizing Atlantic City for the past decade with plans for a separate megacasino that would rival anything on its home turf of Las Vegas.

Ritzy Las Vegas casinos owned by MGM include Bellagio, The Mirage, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay. While those casinos are stunning in their own right, MGM's masterpiece is the CityCenter project - billed as a gambling megalopolis or "a city within a city." It will include a casino hotel of 4,000 rooms, two nongaming boutique hotels, 470,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space and nearly 2,700 upscale condo units. Completion is targeted for late 2009.

MGM would like to use the Las Vegas development as a model for a "CityCenter East" project in Atlantic City. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in fall 2008 and take about three and a half years to complete, according to people briefed on the plans.

CityCenter East

The three proposed hotel towers would each serve a distinct market, from mid-tier customers all the way up to the creme de la creme of high rollers. The condos have been discussed as a possible second phase. A 20,000-seat entertainment arena also was considered but has since been struck from the development.

Gordon M. Absher, MGM Mirage vice president of public affairs, declined to discuss details of the project or even confirm that the board of directors would be meeting next week.

"We're very excited about the possibilities in Atlantic City and to continue along the vein of what Borgata has started and proved to be successful in that market," Absher said.

Dennis M. Farrell Jr., a gaming analyst for Wachovia Capital Markets, believes MGM's project would continue Atlantic City's evolution from a modest gambling haven to a more upscale tourist destination offering an array of casino and nongaming attractions.

"It's a transforming event for the marketplace," he said. "It will grab another segment of clientele that the market has been lacking for some time - the high-end residential customer. You'll probably get more VIP gaming in there, as well. It will help Atlantic City become the destination marketplace that it is striving for."

Farrell said the existing casinos should not fear such a formidable new rival because MGM's development will have broad-ranging benefits to expand the entire market, including the possibility of more airport service.

"Nongaming businesses will benefit from that type of facility as well," Farrell said of casino vendors and suppliers. "It's going to be a big boost for the local economy."

If built, the MGM project would roughly coincide with the arrival of two other proposed casinos. Revel Entertainment Group has started preliminary construction on an estimated $2 billion gaming resort scheduled to open in 2011 next to Showboat Casino Hotel. Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. is redeveloping the site of the old Sands Casino Hotel for a $1.5 billion to $2 billion casino that may open in 2011 or 2012.

"I think it's very exciting," New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chair Linda M. Kassekert said of MGM's plans. "As we have discussed, Atlantic City is really ready to take the next step in becoming a destination, and this is taking us in the right direction."

Unfulfilled promises

Despite growing optimism over MGM's project, the company's track record in Atlantic City includes unfulfilled promises for two other casinos within the past decade. It once planned to build a lavish gaming resort on barren land in the South Inlet, only to kill that project to focus on the Marina District. Plans for the Marina then failed. Now MGM is resurrecting the Marina District site for its latest development.

MGM is flush with cash for new projects, thanks in part to a $2.7 billion investment in the CityCenter project by financing partner Dubai World, an entity of the United Arab Emirates government. Dubai World also has agreed to buy as much as $2.4 billion of MGM's common stock.




However, MGM's plans for Atlantic City could be affected by uncertainty over the Casino Control Commission's pending vote on the company's partnership for a new casino in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau. Critics claim the partnership with Pansy Ho, the eldest daughter of Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho, should be denied because of Stanley Ho's reputed ties to Asian organized crime.

Kassekert's agency must vote on the Pansy Ho-MGM venture because MGM Mirage holds a New Jersey gaming license. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement is investigating the partnership and will make recommendations to the commission on whether the deal should be approved.

Although the commission's denial of the partnership is not expected, should that remote possibility occur, MGM theoretically could surrender its New Jersey gaming license and walk away from Atlantic City in order to concentrate on Macau.

Gaming regulators in Mississippi and Nevada have already given their approval for the Macau partnership. Pansy Ho has repeatedly denied that her father would be involved in her project with MGM.

[AC11]

10:50 AM EDT, October 5, 2007


ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - A Baltimore real estate developer that already owns Atlantic City's trendy new shopping district is eyeing one or more of the three Trump casinos in town.

The Cordish Co., which owns "The Walk," a $110 million retail shopping project at the foot of the Atlantic City Expressway, just outside Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, is considering buying part or all of Trump Entertainment Resorts, according to a published report.

Citing three anonymous sources, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported in Friday's editions that Cordish has been looking to enter the casino market.

Neither Donald Trump, the chairman and largest shareholder in the company that bears his name, nor officials with Trump Entertainment Resorts or the Cordish Co. immediately returned messages from The Associated Press on Friday.

Trump Entertainment Resorts has been looking for a buyer ever since it turned down an offer from a group led by former casino executive Dennis Gomes in July, causing shares of the company to plummet.

Donald Trump told The Associated Press last week that there are "several" parties interested in buying all or part of the company, but he would not identify them.

Part of the difficulty in selling the casinos is the crippling $1.5 billion debt they carry, even after a 2005 Chapter 11 reorganization.

Donald Trump also has veto power over the sale of any of the casinos. If he waives that right, the company would have to pay up to $100 million to cover taxes he would owe in a sale.

Cordish is best known for its work on the redevelopment of Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

[AC11]

http://cmsimg.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BZ&Date=20071008&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=710080343&Ref=AR&Profile=1006&Q=90&DsRadius=4&MaxW=650&Maxh=650&title=0

There is a legal battle over the land currently, so nothing is definate yet.

[Plokoon11]

Man the pinnical sounds like a grand proposal, hopefully it doesn't turn out to be 1000 feet.

[twicedead]

Man the pinnical sounds like a grand proposal, hopefully it doesn't turn out to be 1000 feet.

I don't think it could be 1000 feet if they wanted it. With Bader airfield closing they raised the height restrictions to 800 on the boardwalk. They don't want it any taller than that because of the shadow it would create on the boardwalk and beach. I don't think there is a any restrictions at the Marina district.

[AC11]

[/IMG]LAS VEGAS, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MGM MIRAGE announced today the company's Board of Directors has approved the development of a major resort casino project at Renaissance Pointe in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The new resort will have a budget in the $4.5-$5 billion range, not including value of the land and associated costs.

The MGM Grand Atlantic City will be located on land the company considers the largest and best-located casino development site in Atlantic City, the 72-acre site at Renaissance Pointe owned by the company, adjacent to the 50% owned Borgata.

The proposed resort will consist of three separate hotel towers in a strikingly unique design. Totaling more than 3,000 rooms and suites, each tower will offer guests a distinctly different hotel experience, sharing the signature amenities of an MGM Grand resort, including the largest casino floor in Atlantic City with 5,000 slot machines, 200 table games and a large poker room; a 1,500-seat state-of-the-art theater; a variety of restaurant, nightclub and entertainment concepts; a spacious, world-class contemporary spa; a 500,000 square foot retail experience and a modern and versatile convention center.

"Our company has carefully considered the possibilities for our landholdings in Atlantic City," said Terry Lanni, Chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE. "We believe the success at Borgata demonstrates the eagerness for further evolution of the nation's second-largest gaming market. We will continue to raise the bar, and by doing so, hope to re-energize the city's resort offerings and attract a new market of affluent East Coast customers. We believe our new resort will generate very healthy returns for our shareholders."

With its unique design and iconic shape, the resort will become the city's tallest building and will dominate the architectural skyline of Atlantic City. In addition to the dramatic statement made by the resort's three towers, designed by world-renown architects Kohn Pedersen Fox, the resort will include spectacular interior features designed by the highly innovative Rockwell Group and other leading designers.

The company intends to file for Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) approval in late 2007 or early 2008. Ground breaking is expected in 2008, with an anticipated opening in 2012. Approximately 60 acres of the site will be used for construction of MGM Grand Atlantic City, with 12 acres reserved for future development, which may include a residential component. The company also owns an additional 14-acre site in the Marina District.

http://prn.newscom.com/cgi-bin/members/thumb/wmark?doc=PRN/prnphotos/docs/065/924&size=512&logo=logo

[macmini]

http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2007/10/large_renderL.jpg
Artist's rendering of MGM Grand Atlantic City. Upon its anticipated completion in 2012,
the company said it will become the largest hotel and the largest casino in the nation's
second-largest gaming market.

[Red UM Rebel]

Congrats Atlantic City! That project looks incredible and thanks for posting the picture! I will make sure that when I visit Atlantic City for the first time that that place is opened. Do you believe that they will keep it named the MGM Grand or work CityCenter into somehow?

[SJPhillyBoy]

More on the Mega Project...

$5B MGM mega-casino coming to A.C.

By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff

ATLANTIC CITY - MGM MIRAGE has bet on this resort in a big way.

The board of directors approved an expansive plan for three hotel towers, an intimate theater, retail space and a spa, and the largest casino floor in the city, the company announced this morning.

MGM Grand Atlantic City will sit on 72 acres adjacent to Borgata.

The three separate towers will total more than 3,000 rooms and suites, each with a different guest experience. In addition to the 1,500-seat theater, the complex will include a variety of restaurants, nightclub and entertainment opportunities, as well as a 500,000 square-foot retail center.

The casino will feature 5,000 slot machines and 200 table games.

The Las Vegas-based corporation will file for Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) permit late this year or early 2008. Ground breaking is expected next year, with an anticipated opening in 2012.

The project is the latest green light for the company in Atlantic City, where it also owns a 50 percent stake in Borgata.

MGM previously planned a $1 billion resort along the boardwalk where Revel Entertainment will put its project. That proposal hit the skids after the company purchased Mirage Resorts and acquired the marina land where Borgata is.

The company also backed off on developing this site while waiting to evaluate how Borgata faired after its 2003 opening.

"Our company has carefully considered the possibilities for our landholdings in Atlantic City," said Terry Lanni, chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE. "We believe the success at Borgata demonstrates the eagerness for further evolution of the nation's second-largest gaming market. We will continue to raise the bar, and by doing so, hope to re-energize the city's resort offerings and attract a new market of affluent East Coast customers."

The project is the latest and largest manifestation of a trend toward offering visitors more to do in Atlantic City than just gamble.

The city's 11 casinos have invested billions of dollars to attract more upscale visitors who are drawn by entertainment, dining and shopping options as opposed to day-trip gamblers who ride a bus into the city, play for a few hours, then go home.

"It's a very exciting project that is another step in Atlantic City's evolution to a full-scale destination resort, which is critical given the competition we currently face," said Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey.

Atlantic City's casinos are being hurt this year by slots parlors in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York which are siphoning off gamblers that were once Atlantic City's exclusive domain.

MGM plans to build on approximately 60 acres of the site, setting 12 aside for future development, which may include a residential component. That is the same model the Borgata used when it opened in 2003; it is currently building a second hotel tower called The Water Club, which is expected to open before next summer.

MGM Grand Atlantic City will be the third major resort to break ground next year.

Revel will begin construction on its $1.5 to $2 billion resort on the 20 acres of vacant land next to Showboat. And Pinnacle Entertainment hopes to do likewise on its $1.5 billion boardwalk resort where the Sands stood.

The former casino hotel will be imploded next Thursday night.

All three hotel projects will open by 2012.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reach William H. Sokolic at (609) 823-9159 or bsokolic@camden.gannett.com
Published: October 10. 2007 10:04AM

[PA Pride]

Mega!!!

[Plokoon11]

Super!!!

[twicedead]

Here is a link to the NY Time's Article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/business/10cnd-casino.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


This will probably remain the largest complex in the town due to land scarcity, unless Bader field (the old airport) goes Casino. Wynn has his eyes on that. The next 5 years will be pretty incredible for AC.

[vmx]

I think today was the busiest day on this forum ever!!!
Booyaahh!

[twicedead]

The timing of the MGM release was perfect for them. Everyone is talking about this major project stealing the headlines from Pinnacle and their big demolition next week. I think we'll be seeing a lot of PR wars over the next 4 years from Revel, Pinnacle and MGM since there is about $9b of development coming between just the 3 of them.

[nimrod]

Is it me or does there seem to be a monorail between the garage and the casino?