I was doing a little reading this morning and found something interesting at the bottom of another gloomy article about Atlantic City. The beginning of the article touches on Pinnacle and MGM Mirage leaving Atlantic City. Towards the end the article touches on a note that may have been forgotten that gives the market a glimmer of hope.
..at last spring’s East Coast gaming conference, N.J. State Sen. Jim Whelan (D., Atlantic) floated the idea of modifying state regulations requiring investors to build casinos with at least 500 hotel rooms.
I said glimmer…
Perhaps allowing smaller hotels will give investors reason to look at building in Atlantic City. I’ve liked this idea for a while, as this was touched on last year. I know that if the Chelsea Hotel had a small casino I would frequent it more than I do now.
This idea has been on the table for almost a year with no movement, so I don’t expect movement any time soon. If a company really want to build, I can’t imagine the government saying no. I have to assume that there aren’t any real prospects, no matter what the press reports.
I’m fully converted to my macbook and loving it. I know I’m not using it to it’s fullest ability, but I’ve been enjoying it. This week I decided to write up a review for the movie “Tyson” and enjoyed doing it. I’ll do some more of these in the future when I watch movies that involve gambling, casinos and sports. Now for the week that was, excluding the Super Bowl.
Ever want to buy 19 acres of dirt? It’s by the ocean…
Almost 4 years after buying and imploding Sands casino in Atlantic City, Pinnacle Entertainment gave up on their plans to build a new casino next to Bally’s.
Pinnacle owns 19 acres of oceanfront property between Indiana and Kentucky avenues in the heart of the Boardwalk. Pinnacle executives did not disclose how much the company will ask for the land. The company bought the Sands and its surrounding property for $270 million in 2006, but wrote down the land by $160 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 to reflect falling real estate values.
Pinnacle cited Atlantic City’s prolonged gaming slump, fierce competition from casinos in surrounding states and the fragile economy as reasons for killing a project that looked less and less likely after it was put on “indefinite hold” in late 2008.
“Atlantic City is no longer a good strategic fit for us, given the current economic outlook, the state of the financing markets and the major capital commitment that would be required,” Pinnacle spokeswoman Pauline Yoshihashi said. “It’s an attractive and well-located site, and may be a better strategic fit for another company.”
No surprises here, but it’s disappointing to look back at the potential of new casinos in Atlantic City just a few years ago and now Atlantic City seems as if it’s gambling economy is hanging by a thread. Instead of looking back in sadness let’s watch the implosion of Sands and remember the potential of a few years ago.
When you work for a large corporation and the job you’ve been transfered to has been put on indefinite hold what can you do besides GTFO? That’s what Pinnacle, Atlantic City’s CEO just did. Kim Townsend recently transfered to a casino in St. Louis. She will continue to oversee the Atlantic City project, but since that’s very unlikely to ever get off the ground that part of her job is just BS for the public.
Kim Townsend, 53, has been named vice president and general manager of Pinnacle’s Lumiere Place casino hotel complex in downtown St. Louis, but will continue to oversee the Atlantic City project from her new office.
Townsend stressed today that her transfer is not a sign that Pinnacle is abandoning Atlantic City altogether. Her appointment as CEO of Pinnacle Atlantic City in 2007 came at a time when the company was moving forward with plans for a $1.5 billion Las Vegas-style resort on the former site of the Sands Casino Hotel.
The big pile of dirt next to Bally’s will never be used by Pinnacle so let’s look back at the only thing they brought to Atlantic City besides paying for billboards to a non existent casino.
Revel casino found a way to secure funding to remain on schedule be finish construction and open in the summer of 2011.
China State Construction Engineering Corp. has signed a $1.7 billion agreement with property firm Tishman Construction Corp. and casino builder Revel Entertainment Group L.L.C. of Atlantic City, to finish the $2.5 billion megacasino planned next to Showboat on the Boardwalk.
Revel is still seeking about $1 billion in funding to complete the project but this deal should bring them closer to finishing the construction.
I’m stoked to see Revel’s owners doing everything they can to finish what they started. Rumors are that Pinnacle is waiting for the real estate market to turn up so they can cut their losses by selling the big bowl of dirt next to Bally’s. Of course, time will tell.
2006 looked to be an exciting time for Atlantic City. Sands was sold to Pinnacle and the old casino was imploded to make way for a brand new beauty next to Bally’s. After a year and a half of waiting for the economy to turn around, and credit to become available, Pinnacle has thrown in the towel.
After flirting with Atlantic City for more than two years, Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. said today that its proposed casino project is all but dead and it will probably look to sell the oceanfront land.
“Someday, hopefully, it’s a better world or somebody shows up and gives us a good price,” Dan Lee, Pinnacle’s chairman and chief executive officer, said of the property during a conference call with analysts.
I was hoping this day wouldn’t come, but this isn’t a surprise given the economy. The good news for an investor is that there has been a huge plot of land cleared and ready for construction. There seems to be a chance that Pinnacle will build here if they cannot find a buyer and they economy turns around. That is not a bet I would take, but you never know.
I’m a gambler from the east coast, but gamble wherever I may have the chance. East Coast Gambler will chronicle my research on gambling and news about Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Sports. Occassionally there will be a trip elsewhere, but this is where most of my gambling occurs.
