Resorts Atlantic City unveiled a new multi-faceted conference center with the latest in audio-visual technology as the next step in it’s about million refurbishments.
The center was funded by about $9.4 million in state casino reinvestment development funds.
“Resorts Casino Hotel is dedicated to ensuring that our leisure and business travelers are always offered the best that Atlantic City has to offer,” said Morris Bailey, owner of Resorts. “We are committed to continuing to reinvest in the property and to offer the finest in meeting space, lodging, gaming, dining and entertainment.”
“The technical aspects of the new conference center are sure to impress meeting planners and guests,” added Mark Giannantonio, president and CEO of Resorts
According to a press release on the center, group meeting attendees at Resorts can wirelessly connect laptops and personal media devices simultaneously, while sharing screens with each other and even with colleagues in remote locations. Convenient touch panel controls and built-in wireless microphones offer ease for presenters.
Other highlights of the technology include full 1080P resolution on all screens and up to four devices can share the screen in QUAD view. Resorts installed higher resolution capabilities in anticipation of future needs, high capacity Wi-Fi, electrical and Telecom connectivity hidden in the floors, minimizing cables, and architectural LED lighting on dimmers with programmable pre-sets. Twelve breakout rooms keep productivity high with built-in 80” or 90” LED monitors, drop-down screens and cinema quality projection. Two theaters offer seating for 300 or 1,350 with state-of-the-art sound and light technology.
In addition to the 12 new meeting rooms, the showpiece of Resorts’ Conference Center is the Atlantic Ballroom with a multi-use pre-function area, with natural lighting. Four sets of operable walls divide the main conference hall into five potential spaces and allow groups to have an adaptable floor plan for a variety of uses. The new conference center brings the total offerings at Resorts to 24 meeting and function rooms with more than 64,000 square feet of usable space, most featuring natural light and ocean views.
The center has been touted by city officials as another sign that the resort is making a serious play to attract more conventions and business meetings to the city.
Resorts has also benefitted from the addition of a $35 million Jimmy Buffett-themed Margaritaville restaurant, bar and entertainment complex, as well as the naming of Mohegan Gaming Advisors as operators of the casino.
Bailey also told the Associated Press he expects New Jersey gaming regulators to announce decision on licensing PokerStars in the state in the next few weeks. PokerStars is partnered with resorts for online gaming and has promised to build a new poker room at the casino.
Resorts saw a $4.8 million operating profit for the second quarter of 2015, up 153 percent from the second quarter of 2014.
The Resort’s meeting space is just the latest installment in an expansion of this sort in Atlantic City. Next month also will see the debut of the 100,000-square-foot Waterfront Conference Center at Harrah’s Atlantic City.
Both projects were funded with Investment Alternative Tax dollars, which tap casino revenue and are distributed by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to finance big-ticket projects and events. The Harrah’s project was approved for $45 million in Investment Alternative Tax (IAT) funding. Resorts’ conference center, which replaces the property’s main buffet area, got about $4.7 million.
City officials see corporate meetings as a way to at least partially replace some of the billions of dollars of Atlantic City gambling revenue that evaporated in recent years as casino competition increased in the mid-Atlantic region. In 2014, the CRDA formed the non-profit Meet AC to support the meetings sector by generating leads for casinos and promoting Atlantic City as a corporate destination, taking the reins from the governmental Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, which was dissolved.
The number of events booked in 2014 increased 8 percent from those booked by the ACCVA in 2013, Meet AC CEO Jim Wood said. Room-night bookings and event attendees rose 60 percent and 52 percent, respectively, he said.
Yet, initiatives like these are in jeopardy from a bill awaiting Gov. Chris Christie’s signature that would redirect IAT funds away from development and instead use the money to pay down Atlantic City’s approximately $36 million in annual debt service.
