Officials for Hard Rock International are shooting for a Memorial Day 2018 opening for their new Atlantic City casino.
But first, they’ll have to complete a $500 million renovation of what was the former Trump Taj Mahal casino, which the company bought for $50 million earlier this year. That process includes wiping away the entire Taj Mahal theme.
“We hope to start demolition by next month and full construction by August,” Joe Emanuele, senior vice president of design and construction for Hard Rock International, said during a Casino Reinvestment Development Authority board meeting as reported by the Press of Atlantic City.
The statement came as Hard Rock sought designation of an entertainment and retail district around the property.
“The planned renovations will transform the 4.2 million square feet of defunct casino hotel space into a state-of-the-art casino, hotel, retail, dining and entertainment facility, increasing employment opportunities and strengthening Atlantic City and New Jersey’s economies,” CRDA Board Chairman Robert Mulcahy said. “We look forward to seeing this project come to fruition.”
CRDA’s designation of an entertainment district would make Hard Rock eligible for a number of tax breaks, including a rebate on sales and use taxes on construction materials for the building and also the state luxury tax from hotel-room fees for 20 years or until the total rebate amount equals the cost of the project, the Press reported.
The city is eligible to designate 11 entertainment retail districts, Mulcahy said, and so far, has designated five others. A public hearing on the application is required and has not yet been scheduled.
In another Atlantic City casino story, Pala Interactive has successfully launched an online poker site in the state through its partnership with the Borgata casino. The site has completed its beta testing.
“The primary objective with our beta launch was to get our new poker platform/software in the New Jersey market without any major technical issues.” Pala Interactive Chief Marketing Officer Jeremy Clemons told onlinepokerreport.com. “While we have received a great deal of constructive input on features and functions from players including some minor bugs, we are pleased that we haven’t had any show-stopping issues and we are excited about that result.”
The site, however, is attracting only a handful of players as New Jersey’s online poker market is already crowded by five other operators, including PokerStars. Pala Interactive officials, however, have said they made the launch to help prepare for launches in other states that may approve online poker.
