New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

Cover story for the AC Press today, the preliminary plans were approved for this new megaresort next to the Taj. This is in addition to the Pinnacle and MGM projects, and the Hilton revamp.


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Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

If you are building a 1-2 billion dollar casino, I really hope you would not be putting a McDonalds in it. I know McDonalds has gone "upper class" with the Premium Chicken Sandwiches, but it is still not that classy. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

Link to AC Press article:

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/t...-7414238c.html

Revel unveils ocean theme for $2B. casino for Atlantic City

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, November 8, 2007

ATLANTIC CITY - Casino developer Revel Entertainment Group flirted with the idea of having a building with a hole in the middle of it.

But, as the company's chief executive lamented, "Holes are expensive."

Even without the architecturally dazzling hole, the project will be distinctive. And it won't be cheap to build.

Giving the public its first glimpse of what would be Atlantic City's 12th casino, Revel unveiled architectural renderings Wednesday for a $2 billion megaresort that features a striking twin tower design and another curvy building that appears sculpted by waves.

"Ultimately, we think this is going to add a terrific dimension to the skyline of Atlantic City," Kevin DeSanctis, Revel's chairman and chief executive officer, told city planners.

Members of the Planning Board seemed impressed, giving the project preliminary site plan approval following a nearly three-hour presentation by Revel executives and consultants. Final approval is expected to come in six to eight weeks, once Revel refines its plans.

In a surprise development, DeSanctis revealed the casino is expected to open in the second half of 2010, greatly speeding up the timetable from the original target date of 2011. The casino will simply be known as "Revel."

DeSanctis said construction should begin on the foundation by the end of this month. Revel is redeveloping a barren, 20-acre site bordered by New Jersey, Oriental and Metropolitan avenues and the Boardwalk, next to Showboat Casino Hotel.

"This is a $2 billion project. The economic benefits to the city are overwhelming," said acting Mayor William "Speedy" Marsh, who sits on the planning board. "The tax ratables and jobs that we will get out of this project are tremendous."

The hotel towers, each containing 1,900 rooms, will soar 710 feet high, dwarfing anything on the Boardwalk. They will shimmer in silvery-blue lights. Revel still must decide whether to build both towers simultaneously or open with just one, followed by the second hotel when market conditions dictate, DeSanctis said.

Overlooking the Boardwalk will be another building known as the "podium," which will hold the casino, retail shops, restaurants and nightclubs. Its curvy, wave-like glass facade will offer panoramic views of the beach and ocean.

Revel's planners and architects described the project as a dramatic departure from the monolithic designs of Atlantic City's early casinos. They said the buildings are configured to embrace the ocean and 1,000 feet of beachfront property, giving the casino a resort feel.

"This project is designed as a resort first and a casino second," planning consultant Arthur Ponzio said.

Revel is planning to have 150,000 square feet of casino space on two levels. What will distinguish Revel from its rivals is the amount of upscale retail, dining and entertainment space - about 500,000 square feet. No other casino in town comes close to having that much retail and entertainment space.

A 5,000-seat special events center is part of the entertainment component. Revel also plans to have Atlantic City's first Las Vegas-style wedding chapel.

Revel's casino will be completely smoke-free, DeSanctis said. Under current law, casino smoking is restricted to no more than 25 percent of the gaming floor, although state legislators have been debating a total smoking ban.

"I think, ultimately, nonsmoking facilities will become commonplace," DeSanctis predicted of the casino industry in years to come.

Revel, an upstart gaming company, is backed by Wall Street investment giant Morgan Stanley. DeSanctis said Revel still must secure construction financing, but anticipates a combination of bank loans and bond funds.

If Revel meets its projected 2010 opening date, it will be the first of at least three Las Vegas-style supercasinos planned for Atlantic City in the next five years. Gaming giant MGM Mirage Inc. has proposed a $4.5 billion to $5 billion casino resort in the Marina District and Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. is redeveloping the old Sands Casino Hotel for a $1.5 billion casino. MGM and Pinnacle hope to open in 2011 or 2012.

DeSanctis noted how the lavish new resorts will transform the city's drab skyline - a throwback to the first casinos of the 1970s and '80s - into something far more exciting.

"When you come into town today, the skyline is basically the same," he said. "What you generally find are some white-looking buildings with red letters."

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

I don't have a problem with putting restaurants like McDonalds in casino. The Palms in Vegas has one and I believe a few other lower level restaurants. Not everybody wants to spend over $30 on a meal especially if they have kids with them.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

Incidentally, my gf is an estimator in commercial construction so she's likely to be involved w/ one of these builds, and I'm in the slot industry that expects to see a large gain in machines here (duh) & moonlight as a dealer. On top of that we own property out here...

Pretty sure this all means that we're gonna be [censored] rich

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

I have a hard time making out the black hole in to which all the monies will disappear.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

It won't be one of the towers, it's that thing low to the ground

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

Where will they keep the hookers and crack dealers at?
Looks nice btw, good to hear AC is trying to improve the area.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

Hooker - transformed into more phone book escorts. No HBO more specials [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Crack dealers - there is still the Taj and Trump Marina [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hooker - transformed into more phone book escorts. No HBO more specials [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Crack dealers - there is still the Taj and Trump Marina [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]
Haven't been back in a few years. If they get some of these new properties up I will have to take a trip sometime.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

It's sick to think we only have 1 billion dollar casino here now, and we're going to have no less than 5 in under 5 years.

I wonder how many of the existing casinos will survive, I can't see why anyone would go to, say, Resorts or Trump Marina.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

Haven't we learned not to build two identical towers next to each other that contain things people from foreign countries loathe?

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

These new developments certainly look nice, but can the AC market support them? Competition from the new PA slot parlors and WVA table games is likely to get pretty intense over the next few years.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

hmmmm is it possible to buy stock in these new casinos being built?

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
These new developments certainly look nice, but can the AC market support them? Competition from the new PA slot parlors and WVA table games is likely to get pretty intense over the next few years.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's why they're going more upscale -- to attract a different clientele than the typical slot player. They are building destination resorts on the beach that also have casinos in them. In fact, the Revel planners said they purposely did not make provisions for a bus terminal like a lot of the current AC casinos have. They don't want the day trippers with their rolls of quarters.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
I wonder how many of the existing casinos will survive, I can't see why anyone would go to, say, Resorts or Trump Marina.

[/ QUOTE ]

if they drop their weekend hotel rates, I'll gladly stay at Resorts, then walk on over to the taj or wherever to play some poker. Geez, I hope that happens. Seeing a $150 room rate on the weekend on the boardwalk casino would be a dream.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I wonder how many of the existing casinos will survive, I can't see why anyone would go to, say, Resorts or Trump Marina.

[/ QUOTE ]

if they drop their weekend hotel rates, I'll gladly stay at Resorts, then walk on over to the taj or wherever to play some poker. Geez, I hope that happens. Seeing a $150 room rate on the weekend on the boardwalk casino would be a dream.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that there will continue to be a strong and improving market for hotel rooms in AC, so older casino hotels are likely to see spillover business from the general improvement in AC gaming, even as the new resorts add more rooms. This is especially true when the hotels are high quality (I hear the Rendezvous Tower at Resorts is nice, for example).

On the other hand, I think the lower-end resorts will see continuing declines in their gaming revenue, down a double-digit percentage from their peak. I don't know enough about the ratio of hotel to gaming income at these properties to determine how well they can survive a shift like this.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

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if they drop their weekend hotel rates, I'll gladly stay at Resorts, then walk on over to the taj or wherever to play some poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did this for a lot of years. With nominal craps and BJ action I got free rooms all the time at Resorts and would just walk across the street to the Taj. It was super convenient and I usually got a meal or two comped as well.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

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hmmmm is it possible to buy stock in these new casinos being built?

[/ QUOTE ]

I briefly checked into Revel, it doesn't appear to be publicly traded.

MGM however, is. Their stock ticker key is MGM

I've thought about this but then realized I know squadoosh about stocks. I'll stick to mutual funds, thanks. Does that make me a TAG investor?

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
That's why they're going more upscale -- to attract a different clientele than the typical slot player. They are building destination resorts on the beach that also have casinos in them. In fact, the Revel planners said they purposely did not make provisions for a bus terminal like a lot of the current AC casinos have. They don't want the day trippers with their rolls of quarters.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wait and see, the quarter roll people will take the bus to the Showboat, then walk to the Revel.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
These new developments certainly look nice, but can the AC market support them? Competition from the new PA slot parlors and WVA table games is likely to get pretty intense over the next few years.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's why they're going more upscale -- to attract a different clientele than the typical slot player. They are building destination resorts on the beach that also have casinos in them. In fact, the Revel planners said they purposely did not make provisions for a bus terminal like a lot of the current AC casinos have. They don't want the day trippers with their rolls of quarters.

[/ QUOTE ]

True that. I always wondered how in the hell places like Showboat made money by giving ticket reimbursements and buffet comps to bus day trippers.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
I always wondered how in the hell places like Showboat made money by giving ticket reimbursements and buffet comps to bus day trippers.

[/ QUOTE ]

A typical bus comp package in AC these days is like $25-$30. The actual cost to the casino is a bit less; $5 of the comp is a food coupon that often goes unused, and the food cost is less than the food price.

Assuming a 93% return at slots, your average bus customer only needs $429 of coin-in to pay that $30 back to the casino. You bet those addicts are making that up on average.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
hmmmm is it possible to buy stock in these new casinos being built?

[/ QUOTE ]

I briefly checked into Revel, it doesn't appear to be publicly traded.

MGM however, is. Their stock ticker key is MGM

I've thought about this but then realized I know squadoosh about stocks. I'll stick to mutual funds, thanks. Does that make me a TAG investor?

[/ QUOTE ]

NO cause mutual funds cost $$$, try ETF's...

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
hmmmm is it possible to buy stock in these new casinos being built?

[/ QUOTE ]

I briefly checked into Revel, it doesn't appear to be publicly traded.

MGM however, is. Their stock ticker key is MGM

I've thought about this but then realized I know squadoosh about stocks. I'll stick to mutual funds, thanks. Does that make me a TAG investor?

[/ QUOTE ]

You can invest in Morgan Stanley (ticker MS), which is the money behind the Revel property. Their stock is pretty low right now because of the housing/mortgage issues. Could be a good time to buy.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

The day tripper market isn't where the money is, it just took AC 25 years to figure that out. People in this industry have been screaming for this kind of investment for a long time. The infrastructure is already here, and it's a beach resort to boot. I'm really curious to see it in 5 years.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]

You can invest in Morgan Stanley (ticker MS), which is the money behind the Revel property. Their stock is pretty low right now because of the housing/mortgage issues. Could be a good time to buy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe the only stock that's really a "pure play" on the AC casino market is Trump Entertainment Resorts, which trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol TRMP. For reasons that should be obvious to any current or former customer of the Trump casinos, this stock has been a complete dog.

Of course, TRMP is really an investment in crappy old AC, not shiny new AC. Publicly traded companies with a stake in shiny new AC include MGM, Morgan Stanley, Pinnacle Entertainment, and Wynn Resorts.

Resorts, Hilton and Tropicana are under private ownership, and Harrah's Entertainment is under contract to be taken private.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

Does anybody know what the new casinos are planning with respect to Poker? Mainly, will any of them be trying to compete with Borgata for players?

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
Does anybody know what the new casinos are planning with respect to Poker? Mainly, will any of them be trying to compete with Borgata for players?

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I haven't heard or read about their poker offerings. The Revel will be right next to the Showboat which could be direct competition for the Taj and Showboat poker rooms. I'm not sure if that would be good or bad for poker players.

A nice new room would be ok but I wouldn't want the Taj or Showboat scale back on what they are offering in terms of games and tournaments.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
Does anybody know what the new casinos are planning with respect to Poker? Mainly, will any of them be trying to compete with Borgata for players?

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't seen anything about this. However, given the size of the planned casino at Revel (>160,000 SF) I strongly suspect it will include a reasonably large poker room.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

I was talking about the new casinos with a couple of the guys at a 1/2NL table at the Borgata on Saturday and we were wondering about this. One guy was saying that a new big room would create pressure to increase comps for poker players and make it easier for people to get poker room rates.

I was pretty skeptical of this (especially increasing comps for poker players) but was just wondering what the word was.

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

Hopefully, one of the new places (Revel, MGM, Pinnacle) will have a 40+ table room to compete with Borgata & Taj.
IMO, they should take the best aspects of each room (Taj's variety of games and limits, Borgata's room comforts, beverages, tournaments, etc.)combined into one solid medium/large-sized room.

What they should NOT do (If they were smart) is open a nice room around 24 tables or so, and only offer 1/2 & 2/5 NL, 2/4, maybe a 3/6 and a 1/5 stud. There are WAY too many rooms in AC like that already (Showboat, Caesars, Harrah's, Hilton, Bally's). I can't see AC supporting 8 or so poker rooms so similar to each other. I'd rather see 6 or 7 big cardrooms (Borgata, Taj, the three new properties, maybe Trop, Showboat ?), than 12 poker rooms with players and games spread so thin. Just a thought....

Re: New AC casino plan approved, PICS
 

[ QUOTE ]
I was talking about the new casinos with a couple of the guys at a 1/2NL table at the Borgata on Saturday and we were wondering about this. One guy was saying that a new big room would create pressure to increase comps for poker players and make it easier for people to get poker room rates.

I was pretty skeptical of this (especially increasing comps for poker players) but was just wondering what the word was.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the bigger factor that will make it easier to get poker room rates will be a general increase in the number of casino hotel rooms relative to the number of gamblers. The availability of poker rates is not so much about competition for poker players' business as it is about how much casinos could get for the rooms if they weren't given to poker players at a discount. With room rates and occupancy through the roof, it's no wonder casinos don't want to give big discounts to poker players.

As room rates and occupancy levels come down generally (which I think will happen at the existing properties, even the Borgata) poker rate conditions should improve.