NY, NJ | Casino Resort Redevelopment

[NYguy]

Still gambling on Atlantic City...



http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/n...e8561ee67.html

Straub: Revel to become water park





By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
January 7, 2015

The new buyer of Revel Casino-Hotel plans to transform the shuttered Boardwalk complex into a megaresort that would feature a huge water park, high-speed ferry service from Manhattan and some gambling.

Glenn Straub, a Florida real estate developer, sketched out his grand vision for Revel’s rebirth Thursday after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved a final order authorizing the casino’s sale to him for $95.4 million.

“We’re going to spend lots and lots of money beyond the sale price,” Straub told The Press of Atlantic City.

The Revel name will be removed from the building as part of a rebranding of the property. Straub said he plans to sell the naming rights to the casino to generate extra cash for what would be a sprawling attraction combining family-friendly amenities with some adults-only gambling action.

The centerpiece of his redevelopment plan would be a $108 million water park, described by Straub as the largest of its kind in the world. The water park would be both inside and outside the building to create a year-round attraction. He said he is already working on architectural renderings for the project.

Straub stressed it will be important for Atlantic City to add more year-round attractions as it transitions from a casino-centric town to a more diversified tourist destination featuring resort-style amenities. The city hopes to develop more nongambling attractions to help pull it out of an epic economic crisis that claimed four casinos last year, including Revel.

“You’ve got to extend the time period for the resort,” Straub said of the city’s overall strategy to attract tourists beyond the summer.

To that end, Straub wants to turn Revel’s casino-hotel complex and surrounding property into a resort-style playground for families and adults. He spoke broadly of adding concerts, laser shows, amateur sports and polo facilities. Straub is a polo enthusiast.

He also divulged that he plans to tap the lucrative New York feeder market by running high-speed ferries or catamarans between Atlantic City and Manhattan. Ferries would be a new way to bring customers to Revel and the city at large.

Straub’s redevelopment plan would not stop at Revel’s property line. He said he also wants to help redevelop the surrounding South Inlet neighborhood, but disclosed no details.

The South Inlet’s redevelopment would likely be done in concert with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, the state agency that uses revenue from the casino industry for housing projects and economic development.

.....Straub, meanwhile, still must formally close the deal to complete his purchase of Revel. A closing date has not yet been announced, but Straub emphasized that he wants to reopen a portion of the rebranded Revel in time for the summer.

Under Straub’s makeover plan, the casino will not be the heart of the operation. He said the casino floor would encompass less than half of the megaresort, underscoring his intention for more nongambling attractions.

“We want to be known as a resort,” Straub said.

Revel, which cost $2.4 billion to build, was marketed as a posh resort when it opened in April 2012 amid hopes it would be a “game-changer” for the struggling Atlantic City casino market. However, it never turned a profit, languishing near the bottom of the casino industry’s revenue figures month after month.

Revel’s sale to Straub caps a turbulent period that began with the casino’s shutdown over Labor Day weekend. A bankruptcy auction followed, resulting in a $110 million bid from Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management. Straub’s company, Polo North Country Club Inc., which had been the second-highest bidder at $95.4 million, stepped in when the Brookfield deal collapsed.

Although Burns entered a final order confirming a sale price of $95.4 million, Straub is looking to buy Revel even cheaper. He is seeking to have the purchase price lowered to the $90 million bid that he initially offered.
Brookfield cited a dispute with bondholders over debt from the construction of Revel’s costly power plant as the reason for dropping out of the sale. The owners of the ACR Energy Partners power plant have threatened to turn off the electricity, leaving Revel in the dark, unless they are paid.

Straub said there is no imminent danger that the electricity will be cut off. In the meantime, he is talking to representatives of the power plant in attempts to reach a settlement.

[NYguy]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2048755

Catskills getting $630 million casino after New York state board approves 3 new projects

The Montreign Casino Resorts project is planned at the site of the old Concord Hotel in the town of Thompson in Sullivan County.
In addition, the siting committee picked casino developments for Schenectady in the capital region and another in Seneca County.
The three were selected from among 16 bids.





BY KENNETH LOVETT , GLENN BLAIN
December 17, 2014

The Borscht Belt hit the jackpot.

After decades of dashed hopes, the faded Catkills resort area was chosen Wednesday as one of three upstate sites to receive a casino.

“It is absolutely everything for us,” Scott Samuelson, chairman of the Sullivan County Legislature, said. “We have waited almost 50 years for it and we’re ready.”

The state casino siting committee gave its blessing to the $630 million Montreign Casino Resorts project planned near the site of the old Concord Hotel, now demolished, in the town of Thompson in Sullivan County.

Proposed by Empire Resorts, the project calls for an 18-story casino, hotel and entertainment complex with 61 gaming gables and 2,150 slot machines.

While by law, two casinos could have been chosen for the area, the panel thought adding a second Catskills casino would harm both businesses.

The panel rejected more lucrative projects for Orange County, fearing its proximity to New York City would damage already established gambling halls at Aqueduct Race Track in Queens and in Yonkers.

“We thought the primary intention of the statute was to help distressed communities upstate, primarily in areas like the Catskills that have been long suffering,” said Kevin Law, siting committee chairman.

The Montreign Resorts project beat out a second casino project for the old Concord Hotel site that was pushed by the Mohegan Sun.

In addition, the siting board picked casino projects for Schenectady and Seneca County. The casinos are expected to open within the next two years.

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/12/...uld-have-resi/

Raising the stakes: $1.1B Catskills casino could have resi
Empire Resorts mulling adding apartments in expanded plan for gambling facility




December 22, 2014

Empire Resorts is mulling a potential residential component for its proposed $1.1 billion casino in the Catskills region.

Empire Resorts and EPR Properties last week were one of three teams selected by New York State’s Gaming Facility Location Board to build a Las Vegas-style casino upstate.

The proposal for the Montreign Resort Casino in Thompson, N.Y. included 61 tables, 2,150 slot machines, a 391-room hotel, an indoor water park, a golf course, and a 200,000 square foot “entertainment village.”

Now, the developer is considering expanding its plans, including possibly adding residential, installing a shooting range, and updating its racetrack and racino in nearby Monticello, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“It’s not going to be: come here and play a slot machine,” Emanuel Pearlman, chair of Empire Resorts, told the newspaper. “There are going to be many reasons to come here … I’m pretty much open to anything,” he said.

Depending on the success of the Montreign and the Adelaar (the name for the non-casino amenities), Pearlman said they might develop land with retail or entertainment. EPR Properties owns 1,700 acres at the proposed site in Thompson.

http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2014...tel-catskills/




http://www.getfilings.com/sec-filing...6965dex991.htm