Although the Atlantic City-based Revel Casino is about to be acquired by Palm Beach Polo Holdings and Glenn Straub in particular, the soon-to-be owner had to deal with a few setbacks over the last couple of days.
Actually, Glenn Straub was said to purchase the closed venue since the Canadian company Brookfield Asset management walked out of the deal.
However, the latest events, related to the closed venue made local communities as well as the executives of the remaining casinos discontent with the situation.
Mere days ago, the Court confirmed that Glenn Straub could take further actions towards the acquisition of Revel but this turned out to be easier said than done.
Before obtaining the property for the sum of $94 million, Straub had to take imminent actions towards ironing out the issues related to the tax breaks.
Yesterday, Judge Gloria Burns confirmed that the former Revel Casino will receive a substantial tax relief.
According to the agreement, the tax assessment of Revel for the current year will cost Straub the modest sum of $225 million.
The tax relief given to Revel and the other casinos, which filed for bankruptcy during 2014, made the taxes unbearably high and as a result, the remaining casinos were supposed to pay higher taxes in order to compensate for the losses.
Expectedly, the announcement about the tax break, granted to Revel, raised this delicate question once again. According to executives of the smaller casinos based in Atlantic City, they are left with no chance for turning a profit.
A few weeks ago, when it became clear that against all odds, Straub would buy the shuttered casino, Atlantic City officials had no choice but to comply with his requirements. Otherwise, the venue could have stayed closed for an indefinite period of time since Straub was the only buyer.
However, a representative of Hard Rock International, the company managed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, announced that it is still interested in obtaining the venue.
Actually, the Seminole Tribe of Florida proposed a bid for Revel’s acquisition last year but as mentioned above, Brookfield was the winner.
The reason why Seminole wanted to purchase the shuttered casino was that they were making attempts towards entering the gambling markets of other states.
Nevertheless, after “unofficial conversations” with Glenn Straub, the tribe representative announced that they could not reach an agreement but this does not mean that Seminole would abandon its plans for becoming available on the New Jersey’s gambling market.
