[toc]The struggle to reopen the former Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City hit the latest in a long line of snags.
This time, it’s another failure by the resort’s owner, Glenn Straub, to submit the proper paperwork on behalf of TEN Atlantic City.
The latest on TEN AC
The list of problems with TEN AC as it tries to open is a lengthy one. It appeared one of the issues — approval from the state’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority — had been taken off the list last year.
Well, you can add it back to the list. According to the Press of Atlantic City, TEN hasn’t met requirements for a land-use certificate approved last fall.
More from the Press of AC:
Last week, Straub submitted an application for a city mercantile license for 300 rooms and 300 parking spots, said Dale Finch, city director of licensing and inspection. The city can’t approve Straub’s application until the issue with the state agency is settled. The land-use certificate is required for any property in the Tourism District that is sold or redeveloped.
Of course, that’s far from the only thing that has stopped the AC resort from opening its doors. It missed soft opening dates in both June 2016 and February of this year. The reason: A litany of permitting and regulatory issues.
Straub likes to blame anyone but himself regarding TEN AC
Straub has been quick to assign blame over TEN AC’s failure to reopen on a variety of agencies and regulators in New Jersey and AC. However, pinning the issues on officials and not Straub himself becomes increasingly difficult to rationalize with each new development with TEN. It’s not clear that Straub and his people have properly dealt with any of the paperwork needed to open on several fronts, That includes an ongoing dispute over Straub’s need to apply for a casino license, something he has vowed to fight in court.
Submitting the needed paperwork in this instance doesn’t seem like it’s making Straub bend over backwards. (It’s likely he would tell everyone the opposite. He didn’t talk to the Press of AC for the above story.) It was six months ago, after all, that the CRDA and TEN worked out a dispute over the land-use certificate.
The former Revel probably would already be open again had Hard Rock International bought it years ago. Instead, the massive gaming and resort company is putting its resources into renovating the Trump Taj Mahal.
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Meanwhile, Atlantic City moves on
If TEN AC ever reopens under Straub’s owernship, it’s just going to be gravy for AC at this point. Anyone counting on TEN AC actually opening in 2017 hasn’t been paying attention to what happened since Straub bought the distressed $2 billion-plus property for pennies on the dollar a few years ago.
While things are far from rosy, the news for AC has mostly been good of late. That includes Hard Rock’s investment and the planned reopening of the Atlantic Club.
It would be a miracle, at this point, if TEN AC becomes one of those “good news” items.