Florida developer Glenn Straub said he is tired of negotiating regulatory hurdles in New Jersey and may abandon plans to re-open Atlantic City’s closed Revel casino.
Straub told the Newark Star Ledger he has been frustrated by the slow progress he has had getting regulatory approvals from the state.
“This state stinks,” he said. “It just stinks. … I worked in five states. This is 10 times worse than what it would be anyplace else.”
Straub’s comments came at a meeting of the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which must approve plans for the site. The authority had just delayed voting Straub’s redevelopment plans for the site until next month.
However, within days of the meeting, Straub told the Press of Atlantic City he hopes the regulatory problems will be solved and now plans to open part of the property in October.
Straub bought the closed Revel out of bankruptcy for $82 million though the property cost $2.4 billion to build. He then launched a lengthy battle with the site’s former power plant operators over electricity at the site, but those issues were settled earlier this year. He then said he hoped to re-open at least part of the property earlier this summer.
Straub also planned to lease out part of the site to a casino operator, but has balked when state regulators ruled Straub’s company Polo North Country Club Inc. would still need to gain some form of casino licensing. Straub had not expected to need licensing to lease out casino space.
Straub told the Star Ledger that he is tired of fighting to re-open.
“To hell with that,” he said. “I’ve got other things to do. I don’t have time to be screwing around with this stuff.”
Straub’s company has been seeking permits to open part of the 6.2 million-square-foot property and had hoped to open in June. But Polo North needs site-plan approval from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to do construction work at Revel.
The authority scheduled a public hearing on the company’s proposals for August 18, but then voted to continue the hearing to September 8 to allow Polo North more time to address issues concerning how changes to the site—such as the building of a large rope course at the site—will affect traffic flow and other issues at the property.
However, the delay clearly frustrated Straub and attorneys for Polo North called it “unnecessary and unwarranted.”
It also led to Straub saying he is ready to give up on the property.
“I’m pretty much there now,” he told the Star Ledger. “There’s no assistance. I don’t ask them for any money. I don’t ask them for any bonding. I don’t ask them for assistance or tax credits or anything else. I’m pretty much there now.”
John Palmieri, the authority’s executive director, said in a statement that continuing the hearing will give Polo North the opportunity to present a more complete submission of its development plans and “will provide the public with an opportunity to hear and better understand the development proposal.”
Straub quickly softened his stance talking to the Press of Atlantic City a day after the meeting, saying he is still hoping the permitting process for the property will improve, and he is only considering abandoning the project. He said he hopes for a soft launch at the property by October 1.
Polo North is still working with the Atlantic City’s municipal government to obtain needed building inspections and a certificate of occupancy for the property, the paper said.
There were also reports by the Philadelphia Inquirer that Fantasea Resorts, an Atlantic City timeshare company is negotiating with Straub to take over space in the property.
“We’re in negotiations about Revel with the owner about a variety of scenarios,” Herbert Ushewokunze, spokesman for Fantasea told the paper. “We’re considering what we can do that would best serve our interests.”
Straub told the Inquirer said in a telephone call, “We’ve been talking about the 12 floors that are unfinished out of 54.”
Stay tuned.
