New Jersey Assemblyman Chris Brown—who represents Atlantic City—is keeping up the pressure on Caesars Entertainment, which owns three Atlantic City casinos.
In a letter to the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, Brown asked regulators to file a lawsuit to overturn deed restrictions Caesars has placed on three former casinos it has sold in the last few years. The restrictions say the former Boardwalk casinos cannot operate as casinos.
Brown also wants the state to hold a public hearing on Caesars current bankruptcy and have the company explain its effects on its New Jersey properties.
Brown, an attorney, says he’s put together a legal case that would void the deed restrictions on the former Caesars properties—the Claridge Hotel, the former Showboat casino and the former Atlantic Club casino. Brown says the restrictions are adverse to the public interest.
His move comes even as plans for the sale of Showboat are clouded by the conflict of Caesars deed restriction against a 1988 agreement with the neighboring Trump Taj Mahal that the property only be used as a casino. New Jersey’s Stockton University bought the property to use as a city campus, but the sale bogged down after the covenant with the Taj was revealed.
If the state had filed a lawsuit last year, “when I first raise the issue, we would have a ruling and would not be dealing with the restrictive covenant currently being asserted by the Taj Mahal,” Brown’s letter to the DGE says.
Brown has also been incensed that Caesars closed Showboat as a casino last year even though the property was making a profit. He again asked for the Casino Control Commission to hold a public hearing on the financial health of Caesars—especially as it pertains to its weakest Atlantic City property Bally’s casino.
“A hearing can determine if Caesars has the financial ability to invest in Bally’s to maintain the high standards set by the Casino Control Act, so it does not end up like Trump Plaza—out of date, out of time, and out of business,” his letter says.
