Revel's Tortured Ghost

It was New Jersey’s Eighth Wonder of the World, and one of the most striking and postmodern buildings this side of the new World Trade Center. It heralded a new era for a city stuck in a rut, and signaled a change in the gaming and entertainment industries. It was known by a single, 5-letter word, a synonym for the celebration in which it stood for:

Like any good bet, the stakes for winning were very high and the toll for losing was even greater. Unfortunately, due to a combination of bad economy and poor decisions, Revel shuttered not even 2.5 years after opening, only existing from April 2012 to September 2014. Some may say this is where the journey ended, but a property so dominant and beautiful deserves a second chance. This is where things get interesting.

The former Revel still towers over Atlantic City, but instead of being a shining beacon for the beleaguered town, it casts a depressing shadow. Revel stands empty, its entrails unknown. If one were to break into the building now it’s unsure what you would find. Are the slot machines and tables still in place, without a chip to be seen? Have the check-in terminals and room-specific tablets been pawned? Are the facades and signage still lit on a timer? Do the elevators work? Has neglect taken its toll yet, with props covered in dust and things hanging now collapsed? It’s a depressing thought, especially given that nothing pre-dates the year 2012. Nothing had the chance to really be ‘used’ yet.

One thing is certain though, the building still has power. Revel was so big and so new that it required its own power plant: ACR Energy Partners. (Take a guess what the acronym stands for.) Curiously, it is considered its own company and not a subsidiary, despite being created for and having Revel as its one and only customer. Even though the resort ceases to exist, the power plant still does and it operates normally, albeit supplying much less power than usual. Given that Revel never once turned a profit (nor had the time to), its checks to ACR were nothing more than IOUs. Since the closing, ACR warned of cutting off Revel, but has since bided its time and supplied power to the dead building. One would ask what exactly they need to power: the answer is the air circulation systems, heat and AC. If ACR follows through with its word and stops supplying power, the air inside Revel, the salty, humid, oceanfront air, would stagnate. With moist, stagnant air comes mold, and the empty resort would quickly become a biohazard.

It makes me want to cry.

Even when Revel was still open, it actively looked for buyers. They knew they couldn’t keep the place from washing into the ocean themselves, and tried to find someone that could. But nobody wanted the place, even when it still had customers going in and out. Sure, some investors or real estate magnates would take a look, but nobody committed. Nobody committed to the beautiful, sprawling, essentially new property, even after fire-sale discounts.

Revel cost over $2 billion to build. Today they can barely sell it for $100 million.

They are practically giving the place away, and it hasn’t even become a mold biohazard yet. There’s not one super-rich person on Earth who wants the hottest piece of property in a city that is dying for reinvention. Oh, Glenn Straub? The guy who seems the most promising to buy Revel? He wants a discount. Are you kidding me. Anyone that steps forward to buy Revel always seems to back out for the dumbest of reasons. Reasons they couldn’t just wave their money wand at and fix, a wand which they would have to use to renovate anyway, mind you.

Then of course there’s the little issue of the inside tenants. Although Revel itself was a money pit, some of the restaurants and clubs inside the place did flourish. No matter how well these individual venues were doing, they were all forced to close with Revel on Labor Day weekend 2014. Even venues with separate entrances, like the nightclub HQ, were not allowed to operate. (Even with ACR still supplying the juice regardless!) It’s like if a shopping mall is closing and the Macy’s anchor is forced to close too. Not only does it add to the increasing dead-ness of Atlantic City, but the owners of these establishments took a major hit. I’m sure Revel helped them out a bit in the beginning but like any tenant, these places were on their own to maintain and invest, and they did! All for nothing now. Yet another court case with Revel now includes retribution for these third parties, adding to the court case with ACR, and with the taxes Revel still owes, and with trying to sell the property, and with corporate bankruptcy in general…

What a mess.

Can't say he didn't try.

I guess now it makes sense why nobody wants Revel as it currently is, but the problem is that the former resort is a ticking timebomb. It won’t stay pretty or even salvageable for much longer, and the longer we wait for someone to reopen or repurpose it, the renovation and gutting costs could exceed its asking price. Heck it would probably cost more to even demolish it. Someone just needs to do something with it. Enough haggling with price, it’s not going to get any cheaper. Pay off ACR and the ailing third parties, or better still allow them to reopen along with Revel 2.0. I know we’re talking about millions of dollars here, but the interested buyers are billionaires, so they can kind of afford this. Pay them off and clean the slate, consider it the reason why the building itself is so cheap and allow its discount to subsidize the additional payments. And do it now. Atlantic City literally can’t afford any more downtime, and by the time Revel 2.0 (or whatever it’s called) is ready to open it may be too late. Perhaps I’ll do another article about all the realistic things Revel can become, but right now it’s just imperative that something is done with it. 

It was such a wonderful place in 2012, full of innovation and delight, with an albatross of debt hanging from its neck from day one. A debt that everyone knew would never be repaid. And yet they tried their hardest, stumbling along the way, but with a good heart and good intentions. It was like that ex that promised they’d make it work, even though they never could.

Such a wonderful place, now writhing in Hell. =(