Revel seeks casino permits
The company has applied for an environmental permit and filed a site-plan application for its A.C. project.
Revel Entertainment Group L.L.C., the company behind a proposed $2 billion casino on the northern end of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, said yesterday that it had applied for an environmental permit and filed a site-plan application for its project.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates development along the Shore, requires that all major projects secure a Coastal Area Facility Review Act, or CAFRA, permit.
The CAFRA filing and a site-plan application with Atlantic City "represent important milestones for Revel," according to a statement issued by Kevin DeSanctis, chairman and chief executive officer of Revel Entertainment. The applications must be approved before the company can take out building permits for the project.
Meanwhile, the head of MGM Mirage said his company would apply for a CAFRA permit by early 2008 to build a rival casino resort in the city's Marina District. The move confirms speculation that MGM would build next to the top-grossing Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, which it co-owns with Boyd Gaming Corp.
"We will submit plans to CAFRA by the first of the year," Terry Lanni, chairman and chief executive of MGM Mirage, said last month. "I'm bullish on Atlantic City." Lanni said MGM planned to develop the new mega-casino on a 70-acre parcel next to the Borgata without a partner.
Revel's proposed gambling hall would include 3,800 hotel rooms in two towers, 150,000 square feet of gambling floor space, and retail shops and entertainment venues. It is being financed by Wall Street investment firm Morgan Stanley, which purchased the 20-acre site bordered by Oriental, New Jersey and Metropolitan Avenues for about $74 million in May 2006.
Revel Entertainment, which is based in Atlantic City, was founded last year by DeSanctis, a former president and chief operating officer of Penn National Gaming Inc., of Wyomissing, Pa.
DeSanctis announced in late May at a gaming conference in Atlantic City that because of the Jersey Shore's long permitting process and rising construction costs, Revel's budget for its planned casino had doubled from $1 billion to about $2 billion.
The project is the first of four planned gambling venues in what has become akin to an arms race for hotel rooms and tourist attractions in Atlantic City as slots competition from Pennsylvania and New York intensifies. Besides the MGM Mirage project, two other major casinos have been proposed by Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., of Las Vegas, and a private investor group led by former Caesars Entertainment Inc. chief executive Wallace R. Barr.
Pinnacle Entertainment, which has five billboards along the Atlantic City Expressway teasing its gaming venue scheduled to open by 2012, said yesterday that it planned to demolish the Sands Hotel Casino this fall, clearing the way for its $1.5 billion casino. It bought the Sands from financier Carl Icahn and adjacent beachfront property for $250 million late last year.
Morgan Stanley's site sits on the northern tip of the Boardwalk; Barr's 11-acre site occupies the southern end next to the Atlantic City Hilton casino.
Barr, of Linwood, N.J., said that his local investor group was still conducting site studies. In a recent interview, he said he envisioned building a boutique casino hotel catering to affluent, overnight customers who were heavy table-game players.
"We're still mapping studies and still checking out building requirements," Barr said. "You have to be able to take advantage of the landmass there to build a competitive product."