Revel Hotel plans a June 15 opening, but no one knows when the casino will reopen.
The giant white ball at the top of the 47-story Revel Building was lighted for the first time since Revel Casino closed its doors in September 2014. It is the latest sign that financial activity in the ill-fated casino is just around the corner, thanks to new owner Glenn Straub.
Glenn Straub, the Florida developer who bought the Revel Building out of bankruptcy for 5-cents on the dollar, says the lighting of the ball was a test of the building’s equipment. Straub expects the Revel Hotel to open on June 15, so the tests are in preparation for a new opening of the resort.
500-Room Hotel Opening
When the Revel Hotel opens, it is expected to have 500 rooms in operation. Most of the property’s restaurants are expected to open on June 15, too. The building is going to be operating at less-than-total capacity at the time. Its casino is going to stay closed — for the time being.
Glenn Straub has said he expects to eventually re-open the Revel Casino in some capacity, but license application process is not complete. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement tends to be methodical when a new potential gaming operator enters the market. New Jersey is one of those regulators which other states and other countries in the western hemisphere follow (when it comes to gambling), so vetting of a potential licensee is thorough.
Glenn Straub Ownership
A lot of progress was needed to get to the current stage. Glenn Straub had to beat several challenges from other potential owners, with several lawsuits and counter-suits being filed. Then he had legal wranglings with ACR Energy Partners, which provided electricity to the building. He also had legal troubles with certain tenants of the building.
That is what he referenced when interviewed this week about the lighting of the ball. Straub said, “We haven’t been sitting around for 10 months doing nothing. We’re not going to have all 1,800 rooms open; we’ll probably have 500 open that day. All the restaurants will be open, I think. They’ve been wanting to re-open since the day it closed.”
New Name for the Building
Straub said the building is going to have a new name when it reopens. Whatever it might be called, the word “Revel” will not be a part of the presentation. The new owner suggested he did not like the way the old name sounds. Of the word ‘revel’, he said, “That’s a hard word; it doesn’t mean anything. It’s definitely not going to be ‘Revel.'”
One can see why the new owner would want a name change.
Revel Casino seemed to have a curse on it. Even before it opened, the $2.4 billion building seemed to be brooking disaster. While the building was still under construction, Morgan Stanley put its 90% stake up for sale. Eventually, the New York financial institution walked away from its $932 million investment in the building.
Revel Casino’s History
When Revel Casino opened on April 2, 2012, it was supposed to be an integrated resort-casino in the style of Las Vegas. Contrary to Glenn Straub’s opinion, the word “Revel” has a meaning; it means “celebration” or “party”.
The name was chosen by the previous ownership, because the site would house a 24/7 Vegas-style party atmosphere. The luxury suites were world class, leaving one architectural expert to call the building the most beautiful skyscraper on the American east coast. That did not help the casino, because Atlantic City gamblers tend to be more working class.
Revel always had financial troubles, including a $3 million a month payment for energy costs (to the aforementioned ACR Energy). Revel Casino stayed in business only 29 months. During that time, it entered bankruptcy twice. The second bankruptcy forced it to close its doors on September 2, 2014. The biggest claim to fame for old Revel Casino is it was the site where the Ray Rice domestic abuse scandal happened.
Origin of the White Ball
The white ball on top of the Revel Casino was designed by Mitch Gorshin. Mitch’s father, Frank Gorshin, played The Riddler on the 1960s Batman TV show, which starred Adam West.
Mitch Gorshin said his idea to place the ball on top of the building happened as he was walking back from a local pizzeria. His pizza slice came on a piece of aluminum foil, which he rolled up and held up to the top of the building, as if it was affixed to the location.
The real white ball was built with panels that allow for illuminated colors and patterns. A computer program was designed to light up these panels with interesting color patterns, which can be seen for miles around, when the ball is illuminated.
