Pinnacle abandons plan for A.C. casino

Pinnacle Entertainment has permanently shelved its plans to build a casino in Atlantic City, the company said this morning.

The Las Vegas-based company, which had envisioned a $2 billion casino-hotel for the Atlantic City Boardwalk on the spot once occupied by the Sands Casino Hotel, said it would sell its approximately 19 acres of land in the Shore resort city because it "does not intend to develop its Atlantic City property."

The information was part of the company's fourth-quarter earnings report, which showed a net loss of $242 million for the quarter that ended Dec. 31.

Other steps the company said it was taking to reduce costs included selling the company plane, consolidating three Las Vegas offices into one, and redesigning current projects to reduce construction costs.

Pinnacle had announced in the fall of 2008 that the project was on indefinite hold; it announced last March that it was just a "dream" at that point.

Pinnacle imploded the Sands in 2007 to make way for a casino, and even hinted that same year that Bader Field, the 148-acre former airport, could make a good spot for a second casino. But in 2008, the company was citing deteriorating credit markets as putting its Atlantic City dreams in danger.

The company had envisioned breaking ground for its Boardwalk location in late 2009.    - Roslyn Rudolph