Potential buyers of the Revel Casino will gather today, Sept. 30, for a bankruptcy auction that may lead to the casino finding a new owner.
Florida real estate honcho Glenn Straub has put a $90 million bid on the table, the only offer that has been revealed to the public thus far. Straub’s desire to own the property has been mixed, according to reports.
He threatened to back out of the deal when a bankruptcy judge wanted to allow more time for competing bids, indicating a desire to force the court’s hand and win the bidding. But he later told the Press of Atlantic City, I don’t need that monstrosity
.
Competing bids will have to come in at a starting price of $94 million, according to Reuters. There are at least two other interested parties other than Straub.
Names were not yet revealed, but one bidder is believed to be a casino gaming company that is not based in New Jersey. The other, like Straub, is a real estate developer. One can speculate that a gaming company would certainly be interested in reopening the casino, while real estate development can take on many forms that may or may not include casino gambling.
Should Straub be declared the winner in the bidding, he has indicated that a casino will be part of his plans for the Revel. But gambling will not be the central focus of his development project.
The Revel bidders had been [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com/90-million-bid-revel-casino-awaits-sept-23-deadline/”]prepared for an auction last week[/geolink] at the offices of a law firm in New York. Negotiations for the casino got underway, but bidding did not take place.
Whatever the winning bid turns out to be, it will be far from the Revel’s construction costs of $2.4 billion prior to opening in 2012. Revel owners had grand plans for high-end casino gambling that came at a bad time considering the nation’s economy that began struggling a few years earlier.
Straub appears to be in good position with his bid, considering that his agreement to purchase the Revel includes a $3 million payday should his bid be topped by more than $1 million. That is believed to be the reason why other bidders must offer at least $94 million for the property, to make up for the buyout clause.
Straub’s plans for the Revel include a university. He has yet to reveal his entire blueprint, but it’s safe to assume that should his offer be a winner, the Revel will likely look considerably different in the future.
Straub’s lawyers have recently said that some of the Revel property can open within two weeks of a sale date. Whether the casino would be among the areas opening was not stated explicitly.
