Owner Glenn Straub will have to wait until at least Thursday to reopen the doors of the former Revel casino after city officials in Atlantic City rejected plans to begin the process on Wednesday because key permits have yet to be issued and inspections have not been completed.
The director of the Atlantic City Licensing and Inspections Department, Dale Finch, said that the earliest that Straub would be issued a certificate of occupancy from the city is Thursday. Mayor Don Guardian’s chief of staff, Chris Filiciello, said that work, including the inspection of the 47-story building’s elevators, will begin on Wednesday. Filiciello said that they are working with the former Revel and doing as much as they can to get it opened as soon as possible.
Even though Straub said they he probably wouldn’t want to stay at the casino as a vacationer until the place was more ready, he insisted earlier on Tuesday that the facility’s several amenities and 900 hotel rooms would be ready to open on Wednesday. After giving Mayor Guardian and a pair of City Council members a tour of the premises on Tuesday, Straub told reporters, “I’m not sure I’d want to check in till we get a chance to clean it up tomorrow,” and, “I’m not sure I’d want to be here on vacation if you can’t get a drink,” according to the Associated Press. As of Tuesday afternoon, liquor licenses had still not been obtained from the state and were included in a substantial list of approvals that had yet to be checked off.
The casino itself won’t be reopening until the latter part of August, but the rest of the property could be operational by Friday. Much of the facility’s operations are being outsourced, such as the 900-room hotel which is to be run by a so far unidentified management company. Straub hasn’t disclosed which company will run the hotel because it’s still in the midst of the casino license application. Straub has also failed to reveal the former Revel’s new name but hinted that it could have an Asian theme. On Thursday or Friday the new name will be announced, said Straub.
In 2014, along with four other Atlantic City casinos, the Revel shut down. The property’s $2.4 billion price tag was never justified, as it went bankrupt two times prior to closing. Straub purchased it out of bankruptcy court for $82 million. Over the past several months, Straub’s ideas for the property have varied greatly from a temporary home for Syrian refugees to a genius academy. In April Straub said that he planned a three-story rope course for the former valet entrance.