NJ’s Revel Casino Files for Second Bankruptcy

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

The long-troubled Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., will evidently be sold, now that its owner, Revel AC Inc., the parent company of Revel Entertainment Group, and certain of the former’s subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11. The bankruptcy petitions were filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey last Thursday.

The bankruptcy plan, such as it is at this point, will involve “a sale of substantially all of Revel’s assets,” according to the company.

The 1,300-plus-room casino-hotel will remain in operation as usual, due in part to a $125 million debtor-in-possession loan, inclusive of certain rollup amounts, arranged by one of Revel’s existing lenders.

Attempts by Commercial Property Executive to reach Revel for further comment were unavailing at press time.

Revel’s legal advisors are White & Case L.L.P., of Miami, and Fox Rothschild L.L.P., of Atlantic City; its financial advisor is Moelis & Co., New York; and its restructuring advisor is Winter Harbor L.L.C., Boston.

Morgan Stanley acquired the 20-acre oceanfront site for the casino-hotel in early 2006 for $70 million and later that year chose Revel Entertainment to develop and operate the property.

Construction began in 2007, but in August 2008 Revel said it would hold off building a second 1,800-room tower until the gaming resort opened in 2010. In early 2009, Revel slowed the pace of construction and later that year pushed the opening date back to 2011.

Morgan Stanley announced in April 2010 that it was pulling out of the project, having taken a reported $1.2 billion loss. It managed to sell its stake in March 2011, reportedly for a mere $30 million.

The casino finally opened in April 2012, but Revel announced in February 2013 that it was filing bankruptcy. In summer 2013, the casino-hotel opened a new marketing campaign to position itself as a mid-scale property, a substantial change from its former focus on luxury travelers.

Most recently, on June 6, Revel workers voted to join Local 54, Atlantic City’s largest casino union, reportedly representing 12,000 casino workers.