The sun appears to have set on yet another plan to save Atlantic City's beleaguered Revel Casino Hotel, according to media reports.
When it opened in 2012 -- Atlantic City's first new casino hotel since 2003 -- Revel was celebrated as a sign of the city's resurgence. Instead, it's been a poster child for the city's struggles: Less than a year after opening, the property filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The resort subsequently went through a second bankruptcy and was shuttered in September by owner Revel AC, who has been attempting to save the property by selling it. Its first buyer, Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, pulled out of the sale in November. Now, its second buyer, Polo North Country Club of Wellington, FL, is poised to do the same.
The sale of Revel to Polo North was scheduled to go under contract yesterday. However, Polo North asked to move the deadline to Feb. 28. Court battles involving Revel's tenants, it said, have created uncertainty around the transaction, and it requested the additional time to conduct further due diligence. Revel AC, however, refused and promised to walk away from the $95.4 million sale if the original contractual deadline were missed.
There has not yet been official confirmation of the deal's demise. As of this morning, however, the deadline had passed and no contract been signed.
"If Revel terminates this contract, it will cost them tens of millions of dollars," Polo North's attorney, Stuart Moskovitz, told the Associated Press. "They will never get a bid at these numbers. From day one, Revel was a disaster, in every way imaginable."
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