Developer Glenn Straub Now First in Line to Purchase Revel Casino Facility
By David Madden
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- It looks like the owners of the shuttered Revel Hotel and Casino are going with plan "B" in their quest for a buyer.
The current owners filed an emergency motion in federal bankruptcy court in Camden, NJ, asking that Florida developer Glenn Straub now be approved to take over the facility.
Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management pulled out of a $110-million deal last month after failing to reach agreement on the debt for a power plant adjacent to Revel. Revel's attempts to get Brookfield to reconsider failed.
Straub had offered $95 million for the property. It's not a good fit, though, in the eyes of Roger Gros, an analyst with Global Gaming Business magazine.
"I'm a little fearful about what's going to happen here, frankly, just because he hasn't given a vision for what he wants to do with the property, and some of the things we have heard have been kind of wild, off-the-wall ideas," Gros tells KYW Newsradio.
But Straub says he's just keeping his options open.
"We never have to explain ahead of time (our plans for the property) unless it is a bid condition," he told KYW Newsradio this afternoon. "It definitely wasn't a bid condition."
Straub's plans might include opening a resort that not gambling-centric, or may include a casino run by someone else.
The court has scheduled a hearing on the proposed purchase for Friday morning. Straub says he does not expect to attend.
Revel closed over the Labor Day weekend -- one of four casinos down the shore to shut down this year. And the Trump Taj Mahal could join them later this month.
