Rumble at Revel. City Council of Atlantic City was threatening Glenn Straub with condemnation of Revel. Straub barely noticed. He was busy doing a deal with ACR Energy Partners and their anxious bond holders. Straub bought out enemy #1; ACR Energy Partners for $30 mil.
Straub will now look for casino operators interested in a 30-year lease at the former Revel Casino, Hotel & Spa. He needs someone to run the scaled down gambling operations at the site. He hopes to open the property by Summer 2016. It might even include an indoor-outdoor water park.
The deal needs to be signed by December 2nd, at which point Straub will acquire the powerplant from ACR for $30 million. ACR will then kick in $15 mil, depositing a total of $45 million into escrow in order to pay off bondholders.
DCO, an energy development company based in Mays Landing will manage the new Revel boilers. They’ll operate the power plant too. As a cherry on top and one finger salute, Straub will then open a direct account with Atlantic City Electric and South Jersey Gas. Something he wanted to do for the past 15 months.
For a year and a half, ACR made life miserable for the Florida developer. Imagine, $100 mil in cash and ready to invest in a new Atlantic City. But no. Nothing but flimsy roadblocks. ACR tried to force Straub to buy it’s over-priced utility service. Fortunately, ACR was teetering on foreclosure, and Straub just held on and waited them out.
Ironically, Atlantic City Council president Gilliam wants to comdemn the Revel & surrounding properties. Gilliam floated the idea of awarding redevelopment of that area to a firm associated with ACR energy partners.
Atlantic City Councilman Gilliam believes the former Revel Casino owned by Glenn Straub is blighted.
He mentioned the possibility of condemning the spectacular property on the north end of the boardwalk. No word if Atlantic City Council feels the same way about the shuttered and visually nasty / eyesore / blight / rat traps formerly known as Trump Plaza and Atlantic Club.