desertpunk
December 16th, 2011, 05:59 AM
Revel began its life as a proposal for a major MGM casino hotel development. When the company encountered financial difficulty work stopped on the casino in 2009, the site was refinanced, and the project rebranded 'Revel' came to life in 2010.
http://www.vegastripping.com/images/news_revel_atlanticcity_aerialview.jpg
Kevin DeSanctis has sunk $1 billion into Atlantic City's great white elephant.
13 July 2009
Forbes
http://www.atlanticcitytripping.com/images/cityboom/mgm-grand-atlantic-city-sideview.jpg
MGM resort concept. Those plans were scrapped in favor of Revel Gaming's 'Revel'.
Not long ago you couldn't find a better booster of Atlantic City than Kevin DeSanctis, 56. The chief exec of Revel Entertainment Group was promoting a $2 billion project to turn 20 beachfront acres into a luxury gaming parlor, 20 restaurants, 75,000 square feet of retail shops, 160,000 square feet of meeting space, three theaters and a wedding chapel. Now you can't get DeSanctis to come to the phone.
What's changed? The near collapse of the gaming industry. Trump Entertainment Resorts and Tropicana Casino & Resort are in bankruptcy. Grand development plans by MGM Mirage and Pinnacle Entertainment are now empty, weed-choked lots. In Atlantic City, always a tawdry stepsister to Las Vegas, gaming revenues for May came in at $350 million, a 15.4% drop from the same period a year ago, says the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. Revel laid off 40% of its construction crew in January. In early June the company finished the shell of a 7,800-car garage; it completed 40 of 47 stories of a steel-and-glass tower (one of two proposed). "Work on the interiors continues to be delayed," says a Revel spokesperson.
DeSanctis can't easily pull the plug, having already spent an estimated $1 billion. He ought to know better, having once served as the president of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino and Penn National Gaming. Atlantic City already has 11 casinos, which are competing with slot parlors in neighboring Pennsylvania and New York and a new Sands casino in Bethlehem, Pa.
DeSanctis' backer, Morgan Stanley, bought the beachfront site for $3.4 million per acre three years ago, then swapped the property for an undisclosed stake in Revel, says a source inside the investment bank. In addition, Morgan Stanley has provided Revel an undisclosed amount of construction financing through the first quarter of 2010.
"It's sort of past the point of no return," says Joseph Weinert, senior vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group, a Linwood, N.J. consultancy. "It will be in a stall mode until they get the balance or the financing for the [entire] project." Or until Morgan Stanley pulls in its remaining chips.
Initially conceived as a twin towered complex, the plans were streamlined to one soaring tower with the possibility of adding a second tower later. Revel's hotel tower, is the tallest structure in Atlantic City and the second tallest in the state of New Jersey at 47 stories (710 ft) 216 m. The tower is also the second tallest casino tower in the United States. Revel will house 12 restaurants, 16 retail shops and a 5,800 seat arena. Along with height records, the construction process is the largest one in Atlantic City since the construction of the Borgata. The project is being built by Tishman Construction Company of New Jersey. Revel has also selected design firms to aid in the conceptualization and implementation of its casino complex. Scéno Plus, a Montreal-based design firm, collaborates with other professionnals to design core entertainment spaces as well as 150,000 feet of casino. The complex is also to feature a 5,800-seat arena and a 1,000-seat theater for smaller shows. The arena's seating will be retractable so the space can be used for conventions or meetings. In the summer of 2008 the project was officially scaled back to include just one hotel tower with 1,900 rooms due to lack of financing. In late January of 2011, Revel C.E.O. Kevin De Scantis while pitching yet another funding plan on Wall Street, announced that the property would only complete 1,090 rooms in the opening phase, in addition other aspects of the project were to be scaled back to meet the available funding.
http://rozbmw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1paDYwPcDJoRzyhSmfRynF7wmlg_8LqoFzV9_CCTl3Q4JPCKNHhWdsEfz9w4ga6pochHKx0sQDIBamRGiy8tcagg/Revel-Exterior1.jpg
http://www.vegastripping.com/images/news_revel_atlanticcity_aerialview.jpg
Kevin DeSanctis has sunk $1 billion into Atlantic City's great white elephant.
13 July 2009
Forbes
http://www.atlanticcitytripping.com/images/cityboom/mgm-grand-atlantic-city-sideview.jpg
MGM resort concept. Those plans were scrapped in favor of Revel Gaming's 'Revel'.
Not long ago you couldn't find a better booster of Atlantic City than Kevin DeSanctis, 56. The chief exec of Revel Entertainment Group was promoting a $2 billion project to turn 20 beachfront acres into a luxury gaming parlor, 20 restaurants, 75,000 square feet of retail shops, 160,000 square feet of meeting space, three theaters and a wedding chapel. Now you can't get DeSanctis to come to the phone.
What's changed? The near collapse of the gaming industry. Trump Entertainment Resorts and Tropicana Casino & Resort are in bankruptcy. Grand development plans by MGM Mirage and Pinnacle Entertainment are now empty, weed-choked lots. In Atlantic City, always a tawdry stepsister to Las Vegas, gaming revenues for May came in at $350 million, a 15.4% drop from the same period a year ago, says the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. Revel laid off 40% of its construction crew in January. In early June the company finished the shell of a 7,800-car garage; it completed 40 of 47 stories of a steel-and-glass tower (one of two proposed). "Work on the interiors continues to be delayed," says a Revel spokesperson.
DeSanctis can't easily pull the plug, having already spent an estimated $1 billion. He ought to know better, having once served as the president of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino and Penn National Gaming. Atlantic City already has 11 casinos, which are competing with slot parlors in neighboring Pennsylvania and New York and a new Sands casino in Bethlehem, Pa.
DeSanctis' backer, Morgan Stanley, bought the beachfront site for $3.4 million per acre three years ago, then swapped the property for an undisclosed stake in Revel, says a source inside the investment bank. In addition, Morgan Stanley has provided Revel an undisclosed amount of construction financing through the first quarter of 2010.
"It's sort of past the point of no return," says Joseph Weinert, senior vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group, a Linwood, N.J. consultancy. "It will be in a stall mode until they get the balance or the financing for the [entire] project." Or until Morgan Stanley pulls in its remaining chips.
Initially conceived as a twin towered complex, the plans were streamlined to one soaring tower with the possibility of adding a second tower later. Revel's hotel tower, is the tallest structure in Atlantic City and the second tallest in the state of New Jersey at 47 stories (710 ft) 216 m. The tower is also the second tallest casino tower in the United States. Revel will house 12 restaurants, 16 retail shops and a 5,800 seat arena. Along with height records, the construction process is the largest one in Atlantic City since the construction of the Borgata. The project is being built by Tishman Construction Company of New Jersey. Revel has also selected design firms to aid in the conceptualization and implementation of its casino complex. Scéno Plus, a Montreal-based design firm, collaborates with other professionnals to design core entertainment spaces as well as 150,000 feet of casino. The complex is also to feature a 5,800-seat arena and a 1,000-seat theater for smaller shows. The arena's seating will be retractable so the space can be used for conventions or meetings. In the summer of 2008 the project was officially scaled back to include just one hotel tower with 1,900 rooms due to lack of financing. In late January of 2011, Revel C.E.O. Kevin De Scantis while pitching yet another funding plan on Wall Street, announced that the property would only complete 1,090 rooms in the opening phase, in addition other aspects of the project were to be scaled back to meet the available funding.
http://rozbmw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1paDYwPcDJoRzyhSmfRynF7wmlg_8LqoFzV9_CCTl3Q4JPCKNHhWdsEfz9w4ga6pochHKx0sQDIBamRGiy8tcagg/Revel-Exterior1.jpg