When Trump Taj Mahal opened doors in 1990, it was dubbed by former owner and current President of the United States Donald Trump as the eighth wonder of the world. The property reportedly featured the largest casino floor at the time.
The Atlantic City Boardwalk venue was among the most popular gambling spots on the East Coast for years. However, the Great Recession took its toll on the city and the property, causing a litany of unpleasant economic consequences and hitting the latter’s profitability considerably.
Trump Taj Mahal was shuttered last October after years of unsuccessful revitalization attempts. In February its former owner, New York real estate developer Carl Icahn announced that he would sell the resort, pointing out that he believed he would face difficulties in finding a buyer.
However, an interested party emerged quite quickly and the casino complex was sold to Florida-based hotel and casino developer Hard Rock International. The latter company reportedly spent $50 million for Trump Taj Mahal and promised to invest around $500 million on its redevelopment and facelift.
On Tuesday, Hard Rock unveiled the first sign of its presence in Atlantic City. Workers revealed a new billboard advertising the transformation of the former Trump Taj Mahal into Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The renovated property is slated to open doors next summer.
What the Project Involves
Hard Rock has not revealed much information about the future look of its new property, but it has confirmed that Trump Taj Mahal’s minarets and other iconic interior and exterior adornments will be removed completely. These will be replaced by rock’n’roll-themed ones that can always be spotted across all properties owned by Hard Rock.
More than two decades, Mr. Trump touted his new casino resort as something never seen before. Hard Rock has pointed out that it wants to redevelop the property into a unique one for the East Coast.
The redevelopment project will create over 1,000 temporary jobs, the developer has promised. In addition, once fully operational Hard Rock’s new casino resort will employ more than 3,000 people permanently.
Hard Rock currently operates a café at the Trump Taj Mahal site. The facility will be moved to a larger location that will be able to seat 400 people. As part of the casino resort’s redevelopment, Hard Rock will also add two performance areas with a total of 7,000 seats. The casino floor will feature numerous table games and nearly 2,500 slot machines. Multiple other facilities will be included in the future Hard Rock complex and they will all be themed in a manner that will make the Hard Rock brand easily recognized.
The redeveloped property is expected to be opened next summer, an official date is yet to be revealed.
