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Atlantic City is kind of like a paradise that never quite came to fruition. It was a good idea - in fact, a great idea. Beach, gambling, shows, what more could you want from a vacation? But instead of becoming the multi-day destination for wealthy executives from New York, Philadelphia, and DC that Mr. Trump and others were anticipating, it became a somewhat seedy mecca with lots of retired bus trippers. Atlantic City was eclipsed by a much more remote destination in desert of Nevada.
But now, in the midst of a financial crisis and stiff gambling competition from Pennsylvania and now Delaware, AC is making a comeback. A comeback that begins with the opening of the $2.5 billion Revel Casino and is slated to be followed by several more mega-casinos that will bring Atlantic City to the overnight destination status once envisioned by its earliest pioneers.
However, in late 2008 a credit crunch put a halt to the project and the hopes for Atlantic City revitalization seemed less likely than beating the guy who built hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place. So where does Revel Entertainment turn when they are out of money and they already have about a billion dollars sunk into the shell of a hotel and casino with no get out of jail free card? Where else, but the Chinese government. The get out of jail free card finally surfaced, and hopefully the bank error card is not about to rear its head.
Evidently, Revel Entertainment has entered into a $1.7 billion deal with China State Construction Engineering Corp. and Tishman Construction to finish out the mega-project intended to resurrect AC from the ranks of gambling town wash-ups.
The chief executive of Revel said, "This is not about financing...It's about a construction management agreement." It's not about financing? C'mon.
Apparently seeking international investment partners is becoming more of the norm for casino owner since MGM Mirage has had a partnership with the Dubai government to co-finance the $8 billion CityCenter casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
I suppose China feels that the economy in the US will have passed Go a couple of times by 2011 to warrant such a monstrosity of excess. However, I doubt they'll be paying many change orders until then.
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That photo is dated. The exterior is almost complete. Casinos are a scourge on local economies. Las Vegas gets away with it because the losers fly out and are not reflected in the local economy. Gambling is not a self sustaining means of generating income for local economies, the reverse is true. When a gambler blows the paycheck the whole region suffers. Now we'll have the Red Chinese siphoning resources from Atlantic City's resources.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we legalize crack cocaine... At least it would calm the Wild West killings in our urban areas. It couldn't have the negative impact gambling has on local society. Yes Atlantic City has the some of the most beautiful real estate around, AND the safest ocean inlet on the east coast. Atlantic City has fantastic train service from Philadelphia and Manhattan (I'm not sure how they do that). It's time to get the greedy developers off the backs of what middle class is left in AC!
Thanks Charles, I never really looked at like that, but I guess you are right. When locals lose gambling, the entire local econonmy suffers, while out of towners wouldn't be there if they couldn't afford to lose the money.
ReplyDeleteI agree that AC has some potential, I saw people surfing right off the boardwalk and the views are very nice.
Not true guys, sorry. There isn't a catch all way of saying that the local economy is hurt when locals give there money to casinos. Here in Las Vegas, there is a whole industry built around locals betting. Are you familiar with Station Casinos and its history. One casino site built just for locals grew to eight while others sprouted just to compete with them. The Owners who recently have gone belly up did this because they over extended, sold stock to the public and then decided to buy it all back all at the wrong time. Ultimate Fighting was birthed from the money on that local betting.
ReplyDeleteGambling is a mentality, though not a gambler myself, the locals drop some of there disposable income on a regular basis. Folks I know just budget there money that way as entertainment.