The tallest building in Atlantic City — and the second tallest in New Jersey — will shut its doors next month.
The bankrupt 57-story Revel Casino and Hotel, whose creative director was once Mitch Gorshin — son of Batman Riddler Frank Gorshin — said Tuesday it will close no later than Sept. 10 after no bidders emerged for Thursday’s planned auction.
After two pain-filled years in business, Revel will lay off 3,100 workers and become the fourth AC casino to close this year.
There is talk a suitor might still emerge for Revel — but not until it shuts down and is freed from contractual liabilities, a gaming banker said.
“A buyer can wait and buy it free and clear,” the banker said.
New Jersey Casino Control Commission head Matthew Levinson said, “The inability to find a qualified bidder for Revel is enormously disappointing, but the company did indicate that a sale of the property, in some form, is still possible.”
That will be of little solace to the hedge fund investors — including Canyon Capital, Chatham Asset Management and Capital Research and Management — who in 2011 plowed $1.2 billion to finish construction of the 1,399-room Revel after original investor Morgan Stanley walked away.
Morgan Stanley wrote off the $1.25 billion it had invested.
Gov. Chris Christie was influential in convincing some hedge funds to step in, despite AC’s recent decline in gambling revenue.
“Revel cost me a small fortune,” a hedge fund investor said. “They ought to convert it into condos.”