New Jersey Casinos - Gaming Resort Facts - Atlantic City

Newest New Jersey Casinos being built now.

1. Revel Atlantic City - Now Open!

Location – Connecticut Ave and Boardwalk next to the Showboat House of Blues Casino. 1,900 rooms, 13 restaurants, will be the most amazing casino in Atlantic City.

Opened on – July 4, 2012

2. Pinnacle Entertainment - Entire Project Cancelled!

Location – Indiana Ave and Pacific Ave - The former Sands Casino site plus additional surrounding land purchased separately.  18 Acres of boardwalk front land.

Scheduled Completion – (never)  Land is now for sale, entire project aborted.

3. Hard Rock Casino - Design Stages in Process

Location – Between the ACH Casino formerly the Hilton and the Tropicana on the Boardwalk.  The first Boutique style casino will be modeled after existing Hard Rock casinos in Florida and other destinations.

Scheduled Completion – November 2014

» Atlantic City New Jersey Casinos listed from newest to oldest.

Opened: July 2, 2003

Owner: Boyd Gaming Corp and MGM Mirage Inc. from Las Vegas, NV. 

Details: Atlantic City’s first Las Vegas Style Mega Casino Resort is a Joint Venture between the two companies listed above.

# of Rooms: 2,802 including Water Tower. 

New Developments: Borgata opened a $200 Million expansion project June 2006. The expansion included 520 new slot machines, large 85 table poker room that is the largest in Atlantic City along with 3 gourmet restaurants operated by Wolgang Puck, Bobby Flay and Michael Mina. American Grille, Bobby Flay Steak + SeaBlue.

A New Hotel Tower called the Water Tower is scheduled to be completed July of 2008.  $400 Million development cost with 800 guest rooms and suites. 

History: The Borgata was Atlantic City’s newest casino in 13 years since the opening of the Trump Taj Mahal.  Its posh surroundings and cutting edge nightlife appeal to a younger, higher level market.

March 2010 MGM Grand announced that it is selling its stake of The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. Settlement Agreement has been Approved in New Jersey for the MGM MIRAGE to Sell Interest in the Borgata Hotel & Casino.

Opened: April 2, 1990 

# of Rooms: 2,050 with new Taj Tower.

Owner: Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. Atlantic City, a publicly traded company sharing Donald Trumps Name. 

New Developments: The Taj Mahal has recently completed a makeover in all public areas restoring the glitzy ambiance with an upscale comfortable feel in 2008.  An 800 room hotel tower is under construction next to the existing 42 story tower.  The $255 million project is scheduled to open in stages beginning Labor Day weekend, May 2008.  The first phase is the centerpiece of Trump Entertainments recovery plan since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005. 

History: The sprawling Indian themed Taj Mahal casino is the staple of three Atlantic City casinos owned by Trump Entertainment.  The property includes the Steel Pier Amusement site.  Donald Trump personally owned the casino before folding it into his public company in 1996.  He took control of the property from Resorts International at the very beginning of construction and made it his primary AC Casino.

Opened:  March 29, 1987

# of Rooms: 1,330

Owner:  Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. Las Vegas.  Showboat is part of the impending buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment by Apollo Management and TPG.  Harrah’s also owns Bally’s Caesars and Harrah’s casinos in Atlantic City. 

New Developments:  The Showboat has come along since it originally opened as a casino and Bowling Center.  The 60 lane bowling center was closed in 2000 to make way for two new restaurants.  The Showboat updated its image in 2005 when it opened the $65 Million expansion project now known as the House of Blues Tower that added a 2,380 House of Blues music and concert venue, the Foundation room private dining club and gave the Boardwalk entrance a makeover. New Jersey Gaming Resorts.

History:  Harrah’s Entertainment purchased parent company Showboat Inc on June 1, 1998.  Under the new ownership the Showboat added an 80 room Expansion in 1994 and a $90 Million, 544 hotel room tower in 2003.

Re Opened as Golden Nugget - October 15, 2011

Originally Opened: June 17, 1985 as the Trump Marina

# of Rooms: 727

Owner: Trump Entertainment Resorts inc. Donald Trumps publicly traded Atlantic City Casino Company.  Donald Trump is the companies chairman and largest single shareholder. 

New Developments:  While the Marina District neighbors the Borgata Casino and Spa along with Harrah’s Casino whom both have expanded, the Trump Marina is basically the exact same hotel casino it was when it opened 23 years ago.  Originally named the Trump Castle Casino. 

Opened: May 14, 1984

# of Rooms: 902 

Owner:  Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. Atlantic City, which is the same publicly traded company that owns the Taj Mahal and the Trump Marina. 

New Developments:  The casino floor and hotel rooms were remodeled in 2006.  Trump Ent. Paid $2.1 million for a small restaurant next to the Plaza, part of land that Trump plans to use for Trump Plaza’s future expansion. 

History:  The 500 Hotel Room Trump Worlds Fair Casino was integrated into the Trump Plaza in 1996 but, was closed October 4, 1999, and then demolished a few years later.  The World’s Fair was the latest incarnation of the troubled Playboy Casino, which opened in 1981. The Playboy was later run as the Atlantis Casino. This former Worlds Fair site remains vacant, awaiting redevelopment into beachfront condominiums by owners BET Investments of Huntington Valley, PA.

Opened: November 23, 1981

# of Rooms: 2,125 including Havana Tower.  

Owner:  Tropicana currently is without an owner.  The New Jersey Casino Control Commissions stripped Tropicana of its gaming license on December 12 following a tumultuous year of mass job cuts, lagging customer service and unsanitary conditions under former owner Columbia Sussex Corp.  This triggered the forced sale of Tropicana while it remains under the control of a state-appointed conservator, former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Gary S. Stein.  Under state gaming law, Tropicana must be sold within 120 days of the date its license was denied, although the commission could extend the deadline if needed. 

New developments:  Tropicana opened a $280 million hotel, retail and entertainment complex called The Quarter and Havana Tower in November 2004.  Construction of the Cuban-themed shopping plaza was marred by the collapse of a new parking garage that was part of the project.  Four workers were killed in the October 30, 2003 accident, which was blamed on faulty design and construction. 

History:  Tropicana, once known as TropWorld before changing its name back to Tropicana in summer 1996, is on the site of the old Ambassador Hotel.  Ramada Inc. was the original owner.  It sold its hotel chain business in December 1989 and created a new company called Aztar Corp. to run its gaming properties.  A $75 million, 604-room tower hotel was added in May 1996.

Opened:  December 9, 1980

# of Rooms: 805

Owner:  Colony Capital LLC, Los Angeles.  Colony Capital, the private investment firm that owns Resorts Atlantic City, took over ownership of the Hilton from Caesars Entertainment Inc. in April 2005. 

New developments:  The Hilton is now the smallest casino in town, following the Nov 11, 2006, closing of the Sands Casino Hotel.  Hilton officials have announced tentative plans for a $1 billion to $1.2 billion expansion to transform the property into a mega resort. 

History:  The Hilton opened in 1980 as the Golden Nugget, by casino mogul Steve Wynn’s luxury resort.  Since then it has been owned by Bally Manufacturing Corp., Hilton Hotels Corp., Park Place Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment.  The casino opened a $50 million, 300 room tower in August 1997.

Opened:  November 23, 1980 

# of Rooms: 2,585 including new Tower.

Owner:  Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., Las Vegas.  Harrah’s Entertainment has agreed to a $17.1 billion buyout by private equity firms Apollo Management and TPG.  The deal is scheduled to close Jan 28, 2007. 

New Developments:  Harrah’s is building a $550 million expansion in two phases.  The first phase, which opened in 2007, includes 172,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment attractions.  The centerpiece is a $28 million pool and spa complex underneath a soaring, 90-foot-high glass dome called "The Pool at Harrah's".  Harrah’s is building a 960-room hotel tower.  At 525 feet high, the 44-story tower will be Atlantic City’s tallest building, can you imagine the view of the city?  It will open in phases beginning President’s Day Weekend 2008. 

History:  Harrah’s parted from the Boardwalk crowd by opening the first Marina District casino in 1980.  It added a new 452-room hotel tower in May 2002 as part of a $200 million expansion project.  Harrah’s facelift began with an $81 million, 416-room hotel tower completed in the summer of 1997.

Opened:  December 29, 1979 

# of Rooms: 1,752

Owner:  Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., Las Vegas.  Harrah’s Entertainment acquired Bally’s Atlantic City on June 13, 2005, when it took over Caesar’s Entertainment Inc. in a $9 billion merger.  Bally’s is included in the impending sale of Harrah’s Entertainment to Apollo Management and TPG. 

New Developments:  Harrah’s Entertainment had been studying a major expansion and refurbishment of Bally’s before the new ownership deal was announced. 

Opened:  June 26, 1979

# of Rooms: 1,144

Owner:  Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., Las Vegas.  Harrah’s Entertainment took over ownership of Caesars Atlantic City on June 13, 2005, in the merger with Caesars Entertainment.  Caesars is included in the impending sale of Harrah’s Entertainment to Apollo Management and TPG.

New Developments:  The Pier at Caesars project was completed in 2006 and is an incredible display of shopping, dining and entertainment. Harrah’s Entertainment had studied plans to expand and renovate Caesars, including the construction of a hotel tower atop one of the parking garages.  The buyout has killed the project.

Opened:  May 26, 1978

# of Rooms: 1,144 including Rendezvous Tower. 

Owner:  Colony Capital LLC, Los Angeles, which also owns the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort.  It controls Resorts through an affiliate called Resorts International Hotel and Casino Inc.

Recent developments:  The grand dame of the casinos was updated with a new $125 million, 400-room hotel tower in July 2004.  Although the tower opened in 2004, three floors were left unfinished to save money.

History:  Resorts is where it all started – the first casino in Atlantic City.  The casino was first owned by Resorts International Inc., headed by James Crosby.  He died in 1986, and the company went into turmoil.  Donald Trump agreed to buy a controlling interest in Resorts in 1987.  Entertainer Merv Griffin mounted a hostile takeover attempt.  In 1988 they agreed to split the company, with Trump getting the Taj Mahal and Griffin getting Resorts.  Resorts’ parent company filed for bankruptcy in 1989 and 1994.  Sun bought Resorts on December 16, 1996.  Sun spent $50 million to remodel the casino, restaurants and hotel rooms.  Sun sold Resorts to Colony Capital on April 26, 2001 for $140 million.