Atlantic City’s Revel in the headlines again

The wrangling over the bankruptcy auctioning off of the $2.4 billion, two-year-old Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City just seems to go on and on, and this week new disputes have arisen as the owners seek to dump a $94.5 million bid by Florida developer Glenn Straub….and keep his $10 million deposit.

Revel lawyers have asked U.S. bankruptcy judge Gloria Burns to end its agreement to sell the gambling complex to Straub, according to a Tuesday court filing.

The hotel’s legal team also asked Judge Burns for permission to keep Straub’s $10-million deposit and to hold a hearing today (Wednesday) to consider its requests.

The bankruptcy has seen an initially successful bid of $110 million from a Toronto investment company abandoned, with the loss of the Canadian company’s $11 million deposit; disputes over the casino’s $160 million power plant; requests for a downward revision in Straub’s original bid; and latterly issues with restaurant and nightclub tenants over many millions spent on their premises and the consequences of redevelopment by the new owner (see previous reports).

Straub’s lawyers say that they missed the Monday midnight deadline to clinch the deal because it is no longer certain exactly what the Florida company is actually buying…and they have warned that Straub will strenuously oppose any attempt to keep his deposit.

“We’ll end up fighting this out for months,” a Straub legal adviser told the court, but this has been mellowed by a request from Straub that the judge extend the sale execution date to February 28, a move that Revel lawyers are opposing.

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