[toc]Glenn Straub found arguably the bargain of his life when he scooped up the $2.4-billion Revel Casino Hotel for less than $100 million a little more than two years ago.
What Straub might not have known was that relaunching a massive casino/hotel property in Atlantic City would be a teeth-gritting give-and-take with New Jersey government officials. Straub is attempting reopen the property as TEN Atlantic City.
Straub is currently involved in a lawsuit against the NJ Casino Control Commission, in which he states the level of permit the CCC is requiring him to get is beyond what he should need. The lawsuit has been in progress since late in 2016. However, according to an Associated Press report, the commission could decide on the licensing matter next week during its Jan. 11 meeting.
The Revel lawsuit focuses on permits
Straub’s main beef with the CCC is its request that he apply for a full-blown casino operator license. The owner argues he isn’t directly involved in running the casino. Rather, he’s more of a landlord renting the space to an operator.
David Stefankiewicz, Straub’s lawyer, told NJ.com it was foolish to consider a landlord a casino operator.
“Surely, being a lessor of a property where, among other things,” Stefankiewicz said, “a casino is being operated does not mean the lessor controls or is involved in the tenant’s business in any way.”
According to NJ.com, Straub also filed for a casino operator license directly, just in case the CCC rejects his request.
Straub has quite the reputation in AC
The Straub saga has certainly been colorful in the past two years. While the Trump Taj Mahal’s union strike and subsequent closure was a big story. But Straub and Revel have been involved in nearly constant turmoil since Straub bought the property in September 2014.
He has fought battles both publicly and privately with officials and regulators, and missed a soft launch date in 2016.
He announced this past fall that the property would open in 2017 as TEN Atlantic CIty, an ambitious project with a set of benefits appealing to the new generation of resort guests. That included a private beach, a club, skydiving machine, and three small movie theaters, among other amenities.
Committee decision hard to predict
If the commission’s decision is based on its relationship with Straub, it is likely to ask him to apply for the full operating permit. Straub has been quite cantankerous at times, threatening to quit the resort project because of red tape in his way.
However, the commission may be feeling the heat of a terrible 2016 for Atlantic City — which is undergoing a state takeover. It could decide to make Straub’s life easier with the hopes of boosting the city’s casino industry.
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