Revel Sold and to Reopen as Ocean Resort Casino

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Thursday, January 18th, 2018 | Written by Lucy Brown

The Revel casino has been closed since 2014, but it has now been announced that the huge Atlantic City property has been sold for $200 million. Bruce Deifik confirmed the exciting news of his purchase of Revel Casino last week through AC Ocean Walk, a company owned and operated by Integrated Properties; Deifik’s real estate development company.

$2.4 Billion White Elephant

Revel was to be a gambling haven to rival the Borgata, Atlantic City’s most successful casino which in 2017 generated $800 million in revenues. However, the company behind Revel, the Revel Entertainment Group, had problems meeting the project’s $2.4 billion price tag, leading to construction constantly being halted, and lots of money being lost before the casino finally opened on April 2, 2012.

Problems Selling Property

Troubles were only just getting started for the casino, though, which subsequently constantly lost money and was forced to close on September 2, 2014 after going bankrupt within just two years. It was then put up for auction and received a $90 million bid from Polo North Country Club’s Glen Straub, but the auction was put on hold for a week, leading Straub to increase his bid to $95.4 million before being eventually outbid by Brookfield US Holdings with a $110 million offer.

Nevertheless, Brookfield backed out in November due to a deal Revel made with the power plant next door. Revel had ran out of money before the plant was finished, after which the $158 million construction was taken over by ACR Energy Partners. As part of the agreement, Revel said that ACR would be the property’s main energy provider and would be paid back over 20 years. Brookfield wanted to rework the deal but were denied, so they stepped out.

After some more legal troubles, Straub finally came to an agreement in 2015 to purchase the casino for $82 million, with Straub subsequently able to acquire the power plant in January of 2016. In June of that year, Straub announced a plan to re-open the Revel as a small casino with plenty of amenities such as a movie theater and water park, with the new casino scheduled to open in January 2017. Needless to say, that didn’t happen.

Big Plans Ahead

Now the casino has passed into the hands of Bruce Deifik, the developer plans to open the casino this summer under the name Ocean Resort Casino. The casino owner is already making all the right noises to reassure interested parties, too, and as he explained in a statement recently:

“We are incredibly excited that we were able to take advantage of the opportunity to acquire this tremendous property at a time when Atlantic City is seeing great economic strides. Now the city has a number of exciting new projects with our property and the Hard Rock, as well as Stockton University’s new campus and the expansion of the medical center.”

Deifik further thanked Atlantic City and New Jersey for their thoughtfulness and hospitality, and finished by promising to repay the people of the area with the same courtesy.

A Brighter Future

When Revel originally opened for business, the $2.4 billion mega casino was promoted as a cure for Atlantic City’s economic woes as it struggled to maintain profitability during the time of the Great Recession (2007–2012), and a growing level of competition from neighboring states, including Pennsylvania.

Expressing his optimism for the future success of the property, Defiek said that the Ocean Resort Casino will be one of the finest casino and hotel properties in Atlantic City, a market which over the past two years has returned to growth and has continued to strengthen. In 2016, for instance, the resort’s casino market posted a 1.5% revenue increase to $2.6 billion, followed in 2017 by another moderate 2.2% improvement to $2.66 billion.

Prior to AC’s recent recovery, Revel was one of four Atlantic City casinos to be closed down as gambling dollars went to other states, with another prominent property shut including the Trump Taj Mahal in 2016. Last year, the Taj was subsequently purchased by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and is set to reopen in 2018 as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City. Things are therefore looking up in Atlantic City, which is moving consistently forward on its comeback trail.

Defiek said that should sports betting become legal in New Jersey then the Ocean will set up a powerful sports book. He also said that he wants to develop the property’s other services and amenities, including its restaurants which had proved one of Revel’s most successful operations.