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With new capital investment and a renewed effort by the State to revitalise the casino industry essential to ending Atlantic City’s slump, new legislation has been signed in to aid the re-emergence of Atlantic City a premier resort, tourist and convention
destination with the promise of new casino brands.
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New Jersey governor Chris Christie has now signed the legislation that would allow two new Atlantic City casino hotel licences with just 200 rooms rather than the 500 mandated under current law in a move which should see the Hard Rock brand open a casino on the Boardwalk. Of two new licences, at least one will be for a staged casino, meaning it will have to open more hotel rooms in future years to meet the 500 room quota within five years. Licensees will have to build new facilities that are adjacent to the Boardwalk, as opposed to rehabilitating existing facilities or build- ing within the Marina zone. Governor Christie said: “This bill will provide a
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Caesars owner in talks with Palms TPG Capital, the venture capitalist who teamed up with Apollo to buy Caesars Entertainment for $30.7bn in 2008, could be about to buy a controlling stake in Palms Resort Casino. With current owner George Maloof looking to restructure the venue’s debt, TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP are believed to be in talks having bought most of a loan backed by the casino at a discount last year. Palms had apparently breached certain financial covenants on its loan. Leonard Green is keen to get into the casino sector having lost out to Penn National for control of the M Resort, located 10 miles off the Strip.
Hard Rock is heavily tipped to land one of Atlantic City’s new smaller casino licences
boost to the engines of Atlantic City and the regional economy, bringing badly needed jobs to the area and signalling the re- emergence of world-class entertainment. While this is an important step in meeting our commitment to revitalise Atlantic City as a premier destination resort, we have more work to do in laying the founda- tion for growth in this criti- cal area of our economy.
I
look forward to continuing to work with our partners in the legislature and Atlantic City to implement a comprehensive plan to bring the job creation, capital investment, and reg- ulatory reform needed to renew Atlantic City and strengthen our economy.” The bill will likely pave
Atlantic City signs in law allowing two boutique casinos
Penn puts Harvey plans to paper
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Officials from Penn National Gaming, have revealed details of their proposed Holly- wood Casino to Louisiana’s Gaming Control Board. In addition to a first class gaming vessel to be located along the Harvey Canal in Jefferson Parish, the company offered to fund a US$75m escrow account to demonstrate their commitment to the project. Penn National Gaming chairman and
CEO, Peter Carlino, said: “Beyond our unde- niable success as one of the country’s fore- most casino developers and operators, we felt it was important for us to demonstrate to the Board our financial strength to actu- ally get the project done. The past three years have been tough on the gaming indus- try and obtaining financing remains an obstacle for most new casino projects.
Penn National wanted to demonstrate to the Board as well as to the residents of Jef- ferson Parish that we can and we will build if granted Louisiana’s 15th license.” Penn National is one of three applicants competing for the 15th license. The project’s nearly $150m investment will include up to 1,500 slots machines, 44 table games (including a 10 table poker room), parking garage, an upscale buffet and steakhouse as well as other food and beverage offerings and a multipurpose room. Penn National’s proposed second phase would be an additional $155 million investment that includes a 250-room hotel. Hollywood Casino, Harvey is expected
to generate approximately $30m in annual gaming taxes for the State of Louisiana and another $8m for Jefferson Parish.
28 February 2011 • northamericanews
the way for Hard Rock Inter- national to build a smaller, US$300m casino hotel in Atlantic City. State Senator James Whelan said: “All the indications from Hard Rock, including conversations this week, is that they are poised to take advantage of the boutique-casino bill, and they look forward to moving on it and putting some people to work.” Hard Rock chairman Jim Allen said: “We are intrigued by the newly proposed leg- islation, which makes enter- ing the marketplace more manageable.
Despite
current headwinds, Atlantic City remains the country’s second-largest gaming market and would be an
exciting location for a Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.” This new legislation is
part of a wider initiative taken by the Christie Admin- istration and Atlantic City to bring business back to the casino resort. As part of an ongoing Tourism District program, the Casino Associ- ation of New Jersey has helped form the Atlantic City Alliance, a private sector commitment to pledge at least $30m each year to promoting Atlantic City as a destination resort and supporting the revitali- sation of Atlantic City. Atlantic City hasn’t seen
any new casino openings since the Borgata in July 2003. Building work on the $2bn Revel Casino ground to a halt when the credit market froze in January 2009. Analysts believe develop-
ers must, though, do some- thing different to really seize the opportunity the new leg- islation has presented. Cory
Morowitz of
Morowitz Gaming Advisors said: “The 200-room hotel bill will be a plus if these new operators develop something that is unique and that allows the city to either recapture trips that are currently going to the convenience markets in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York or if these new properties grow the market by drawing visitors who are currently rejecting Atlantic City. If its just gaming and room capacity done better than existing properties, we might see the demise of another casino and little market growth.”
Goldstein promoted to LV Sands’ president
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Las Vegas Sands’s Rob Goldstein has been pro- moted to president of global gaming operations and will have overall responsibility for the company’s gaming opera- tions in the United States, Macau, and Singapore. Goldstein joined the company in 1995 and was previously its executive vice president and president of The Venetian and Palazzo resorts in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Sands chair- man and CEO Sheldon Adelson, said: “Rob is one of the gaming industry’s most knowledgeable exec-
utives and we have been privi- leged to have him with us for so many years. This new role will allow him to focus solely on this important segment of our business and, in turn, make our
industry-leading gaming operations even more for- midable.”
Goldstein added: “With our significant presence in Asia and as Las Vegas con- tinues to rebound, this company has opportunities in front of it that are unprecedented in the industry. The company’s geographic advantages,
especially our posi- tioning in Asia, combined with the quality of our assets, gives Las Vegas Sands the chance to do something very special over the next couple of years.”
“As we are doing in other
key areas of the company, Rob will be in a position to retain and attract other tal- ented individuals and build an organization which will further enhance our current operations and ensure future growth,” said Michael Leven, the company’s presi- dent and chief operating officer.
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