June has come and gone, and with it went the hopes that undulating, modern facade of Revel resort and casino in Atlantic City would once again welcome customers onto its property.
July, so far, has been no different. This past week Revel CEO Glenn Straub revealed that missing paperwork continues to delay the casino’s reopening since it closed its doors in September 2014.
Straub told the Press of Atlantic City that city officials need to provide the facility a temporary certificate of occupancy inspection but cannot. Why? Because Straub’s company, Polo Country Club North Inc., has yet to provide regarding sprinkler systems and alarm systems.
The status of the property has long been an issue; last year, the city council pondered condemning Revel.
Mutliple companies, permits create delays
The Revel’s extend beyond the occupancy certificate and fire-system issues. Several different companies are involved in the reopening, and with so many proverbial cooks in the kitchen, Straub told the Press of AC delays are inevitable.
.“It could take two weeks before all 17,000 fire detection locations are checked,” Straub said. “We are also working with three companies to address concerns that they have over the generators in the building. We are working with two companies and one agency, and one thing holds up another.”
Reports come out after the original opening date of June 15 that Straub had failed to secure the proper liquor license from the Department of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). Normally, businesses get their liquor licenses through local and state alcohol beverage control departments, but casino hotels must go through the DGE.
Straub’s company blasts DGE
While Straub was quick to admit his own in-house issues were delaying the Revel opening, the DGE is also on the hook for its sluggish procedures.
“This is just one more example of New Jersey’s anti-business attitude,” Straub’s Polo North said in a statement quoted by Press of Atlantic City. “What is especially galling is that New Jersey is engaging in this conduct when it has imposed a strict time limit on Atlantic City putting its financial house in order.”
Straub said he believes he shouldn’t be forced to get a liquor license because he plans on leasing the operation of the casino and resort to two different companies. (A Connecticut developer is in the mix to take care of the casino operations.)
Straub even alluded to the fact that he’d be willing to file a lawsuit if the DGE continued to, from his perspective, delay the process.
Meanwhile, the DGE stayed tight-lipped, acknowledging they were collaborating with Straub’s Polo North.
Nearly four years of tumult for Revel
Revel was one of four Atlantic City casinos that closed in 2014, leaving the city’s casino industry reeling and compounding its unemployment problems.
What makes the Revel unique is that it shut down after only two years of operation, a highly disappointing outcome for a facility that cost $2.4 billion to build.
About seven months after the casino and resort closed, Straub bought the property for a rock-bottom price of $82 million, or about 3.5 percent of what it originally cost to build it.
According to NJ.com, the Revel’s 47-story casino tower is the second-tallest in the country.