ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.
AC Ocean Walk acquired the former Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City for $200 million on Jan. 8. The property will be rebranded as the Ocean Resort Casino, giving a nod to the property's location on 20 acres along the Atlantic City Boardwalk, and the ocean views featured in its 1,399 rooms. AC Ocean Walk will begin work to ready the property for operation immediately, with plans to open in summer 2018.
When fully operational, the property is estimated to bring between 2,500-3,000 jobs to Atlantic City.
"We are incredibly excited that we were able to take advantage of the opportunity to acquire this tremendous property at a time when Atlantic City is seeing great economic strides,” said Bruce Deifik, the chairman of AC Ocean Walk. “Now the city has a number of exciting new projects with our property and the Hard Rock, as well as Stockton University's campus and the expansion of the medical center.”
The Revel Casino Hotel originally opened in April 2012 with a total investment of nearly $3 billion and became a landmark building along the Atlantic City Boardwalk not only for its height as the tallest building in the city, but for the attention to detail that went into building the tower and casino.
"The former Revel property opened at a time when Atlantic City was still in economic recovery and operationally it just did not cater to the customer base for this destination,” Deifik said. “However, given the extraordinary quality and investment made during its development, the new 'Ocean' will represent one of the finest hotel, casino properties … in an improving market that has demonstrated strength.”
The newly envisioned Ocean Resort Casino will take full advantage of the 6.4 million total square feet of the property with plans for 138,000 square feet of gaming space—featuring 100 table games and 2,200 slot machines and plans for a "best in market" sports book. Ocean Resort Casino will maintain the 165,000 square feet in meeting and convention space, as well as the 5,700 seat concert hall with space for potential future expansion. The property has an attached parking structure with 7,700 spaces.
"It is our mission and vision to fully serve the customer base of Atlantic City,” Deifik said. “In that regard, we are working to bring back some of the restaurants that were successful at the property and we have worked diligently to create some specialized new venues including a top Asian noodle bar and a high-end players club. Our investment in this property will make certain there is something for everyone.”
In addition to the hotel and casino tower, the property also includes a unique central utility plant that was sized to handle the current and potential future electrical and thermal requirements of the site.
