[toc]Hard Rock International made it official on Thursday, announcing its acquisition of the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, leading a group of other investors.
The news came to light on Wednesday, when media reports and Icahn Enterprises indicated that the shuttered resort casino was being sold to Hard Rock.
The new resort will be called Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, although it will not be opening up immediately.
The Taj Mahal acquisition, at a glance
Hard Rock is a company that operates restaurants, resorts and casinos around the country. The Seminole Tribe of Florida owns the company.
“We are excited to be part of this revitalization of Atlantic City creating thousands of jobs to help local employment,” Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International, said in a press release. “We are 100 percent convinced Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City will be a success.”’
Owner Carl Icahn announced his intention to sell the property just last month, and said he would like to focus on his other AC property, The Tropicana. Icahn closed the Taj in October.
Hard Rock talks plans for AC resort
What do we know about the plans of Hard Rock? More than we did yesterday. Here are some of the details:
- Hard Rock and its partners in the deal will invest “$300 million to purchase, substantially renovate and re-open the casino.”
- The resort has a planned reopening window in the summer of 2018, according to the Press of AC.
- The casino resort will likely look nothing like its former self, as Hard Rock indicated it was undertaking a “complete remodel and rebrand” of the property.
- Hard Rock estimated the project will create more than 3,000 jobs for Atlantic City.
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Hard Rock gets its shot in New Jersey
Hard Rock had its eye on the New Jersey casino market already.
It had ben in line to operate a casino in partnership with Meadowlands Racetrack in the event that North Jersey casinos were authorized in the state. However, that effort was turned back in a lopsided referendum defeat in November.
That left AC as the only path into New Jersey in the short term, with Trump Taj Mahal looking like an attractive target when Icahn put it on the market. Hard Rock already operates a restaurant on the property that is active even though the resort closed.
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