The Hard Rock Biloxi was scheduled to open the week Hurricane Katrina struck. Ongoing litigation with insurers and financiers has delayed rebuilding but on Thursday it was announced that agreement had been reached for a proportion of claims, to the value of US$66.2 million. The estimated cost of rebuilding is from US$67.3 million to US$85.5 million, and the casino could be open by the end of the year. It now appears that London-based Rank Group is looking to build further Hard Rock casinos in the United States.

Atlantic City is second only to Las Vegas for gambling in the United States, but property prices are much less expensive. The possible site of interest for the development is on Pacific Avenue, bordered by the Boardwalk and the Showboat. Although no application for a casino licence has been made, should a Hard Rock casino hotel be built it would be the first such development since the Borgata opened, and have the advantage of being a beach-front property.

Rank has not commented on the possible deal, but the company is known to be seeking expansion of Hard Rock casinos in the country. Its Seminole operations in Florida at Tampa and Hollywood are extremely successful and the Biloxi development in Mississippi should have been open last year. A Hard Rock hotel casino in New Jersey’s Atlantic City is expected to offer restaurants, luxury stores and other entertainment in a US$1 billion development that could be open by 2009. (E-03.31.06)

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