The owner of Atlantic City’s dormant casino Revel is suing New Jersey gaming regulators, claiming he doesn’t need a gaming license to relaunch gaming operations at the white elephant.
Developer Glenn Straub, who acquired the bankrupt $2.4b Revel for a mere $82m in February 2015, sued the New Jersey Casino Control Commission (CCC) in Atlantic County Superior Court on Monday for their demand that he obtain a state gaming license if he wishes to re-open the casino at Revel, which Straub has rebranded under the moniker Ten.
Straub’s lawsuit claims that while Revel/Ten’s revival does plan to offer casino gaming, Straub won’t be serving any other function than landlord to the third-party vendor that will actually run the property. The lawsuit insists Straub will “have no involvement in the casino/hotel’s operations other than as a lessor.”
Co-opting US President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign mantra, Straub’s attorney David Stefankiewicz issued a statement saying Straub has “spent a lot of time, effort and money in trying to make Atlantic City great gain.” But instead of bending over backward to help Straub breathe new life into the shuttered Revel, Stefankiewicz complained that the CCC was “creating roadblock after roadblock.”
Despite his bluster, Straub has hedged his bets by filing his gaming license application in case his legal gambit fails. The CCC, which is currently reviewing the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement’s report on Straub’s casino license, has declined to publicly comment on Straub’s lawsuit.
Revel, which opened with great fanfare in April 2012, shut its doors in September 2014 after filing for bankruptcy twice. Straub has previously targeted spring 2017 as the preferred timeline for Revel/Ten’s reopening.
Frankly, the idea that someone as hands-on as Straub would settle for being a hands-off owner appears unlikely, and if Straub is receiving any share of the property’s gaming revenue, he needs a license. But like Trump, Straub appears convinced that the ordinary rules don’t apply to ordinary people.
