Developer Glen Straub is throwing in the towel on his plans to open at least part of Atlantic City’s closed Revel casino by Labor Day.
Straub is still in a fight with the owners of the casino’s power plant over powering the closed property. His comments came after yet another court hearing and the extension of a temporary agreement between Straub’s Polo North Country Club Inc. and ACR energy to provide electricity to the property.
“A casino definitely won’t open there this summer,” Straub told reporters after the hearing. “There’s no way.”
Straub also said the non-gambling components of Revel—such as restaurants, night clubs or pool clubs—are unlikely to be open by Labor Day either. Straub said ACR was to blame for the delays.
“It’s not going to happen, based on what they’re doing,” he said. “They’re putting roadblocks up.”
Straub’s attorneys told the court that the company is still trying to find an alternative power supplier for the casino tower. That includes asking local utility Atlantic City Electric to build a substation for the casino, but that process has been slowed since ACR and Polo North are in a dispute over the ownership of electrical equipment within the tower.
ACR says it owns about $40 million in equipment at the property, but in a sign of court battles to come, Polo North now claims it owns the equipment as part of the overall purchase of the site.
For their part, ACR’s attorneys said they are worried that their equipment will be damaged, especially if air conditioning is left off at the property. That leaves the equipment operating at a higher temperature than normal, they said.
The agreement reached Tuesday requires Straub to give ACR several weeks’ notice before it connects another power supply to Revel, enabling the company to challenge those plans in court if necessary, according to the Associated Press.
An order from the state Department of Community Affairs requiring ACR to provide electricity to power crucial fire protection systems and an aviation warning light atop the 47-story building also remains in effect.
Straub, who bought the $2.4 billion complex for $82 million out of bankruptcy court, did say he plans to open an indoor water park at the site by November.
“Because it’s winter,” he said of the timeframe. “I want to get some people in there.”
