NJ Gaming Regulators Approve New 'Boutique' Casinos For Atlantic City
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) - The New Jersey Casino Control Commission has approved new rules to allow for construction of smaller, so-called "boutique" gambling halls in Atlantic City.
Following a legislative mandate, the commission set up a pilot program that would authorize the issuance of two casino licenses for hotels with as few as 200 rooms. One would have to expand within five years to 500 room, but both would be well below the most successful casinos that average about 2,000 hotel rooms.
Commission chair Linda Kassakert says the idea was to offer options to tourists.
"We're not just all about gaming," she told KYW Newsradio. "We're also about offering top-rate restaurants and other amenities, and we always need more hotel rooms in Atlantic City."
So far, the Seminole Indians have been the only ones expressing interest in one of those "boutique" licenses, for their Hard Rock casino franchise.
Reported by David Madden, KYW Newsradio 1060
