Less than a month after his acquisition of the bankrupt Revel Casino was completed, Florida businessman Glenn Straub is threatening to walk away from his ambitious $500 million plan to revitalize Atlantic City following a dispute with a power company.
The Revel Casino property has a long unpaid power bill from its previous owner, and the utility company decided that they have had enough, pulling the plug on the property this week. This caused New Jersey regulators to fine Revel $5,000 per day due to the company not having active fire suppression systems.
Straub then brought in mobile generators to power the property, but additional regulators are threatening to fine the developer for parking the generators next to the casino. That caused Straub to lash out at the city and state, saying: “I’ll pack my bags and this will sit here for three years. People, if you’re going to stand in our way, we’re packing our bags and headed down south…I’m starting to buck up against a lot of details that cause people to go out of business…I can see why Caesars shut down Showboat.”
Casino Listings will update this story as more developments arise.
Comments
I don't know how I feel about this, as I see it both ways. On the one hand the guy knew what he was getting into by purchasing a bankrupt casino, as he had to absorb some of the debts the property racked up, and it looks like the power bill was part of that.
But I can also kind of see this guy's point. As far as I can see, he is the only person who wants to take a serious run at revitalizing an area that is struggling and has a ton of vacant property just sitting and going to waste. He would bring jobs and hopefully people back to the area, who would contribute to the local economy. Giving him such a rough time will not make him want to do any of that stuff, and his $500 million plan will just walk away.
I think there has to be some sort of give and take on both sides here, but New Jersey isn't doing itself any favors by punitively fining the guy.