Revel Entertainment Group, a Start-up gaming company backed by Wall Street investment giant Morgan Stanley, plans to develop a US$2 billion casino hotel that will top out at nearly 4,000 rooms and tempt customers with an array of retail and entertainment attractions. Revel wants to build two hotel towers of 1,936 rooms each, but market conditions will dictate the timing of the second one.

The towers will soar 700 feet high, becoming the tallest buildings in town and dwarfing anything else currently on the Boardwalk. Kevin DeSanctis, Revel's CEO, said that the emphasis on hotel rooms fits in with the city's evolution from a gambling market historically dominated by day trippers to one that targets wealthier overnight guests.

DeSanctis commented: “When you think about Atlantic City today, the reality is that Atlantic City just can't rely on the convenience customer anymore. From our perspective, in order to attract a customer to stay overnight, you have to give them reasons to stay overnight. That's exactly what this property is designed to do.”

Revel is clearing the 20-acre oceanfront tract where the casino is planned. The site is bordered by New Jersey, Oriental and Metropolitan avenues, overlooking the Boardwalk next to Showboat Casino Hotel. A grand opening is scheduled in 2011. This is the first casino developed by Revel, which has the financial backing of investment partner Morgan Stanley. Preliminary estimates indicate the price tag will be about US$2 billion, nearly twice the cost of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, the city's newest and most expensive casino.

Dennis M. Farrell Jr., a gaming analyst for Wachovia Capital Markets, predicted that Revel's casino will do for the northern end of the Boardwalk what the trend-setting Borgata did for the Marina District when it opened in 2003. Farrell Jr. said: “Just imagine what the reception would be if Borgata was on the Boardwalk. It will really help the northeastern end of the Boardwalk kind of blossom. As you put more bodies down there, you'll really have more excitement in that area.”

Revel is planning to have 168,610 square feet of casino space, second only to the 178,815 square feet of gaming space at Bally's. However, Bally's combines the gaming space of Bally's Park Place, the Claridge Casino Hotel and the Wild Wild West Casino all within one complex collectively known as Bally's Atlantic City.

Revel will also have Atlantic City's first casino wedding chapel, a Las Vegas-like touch that DeSanctis thinks is a strong draw for tourists who view the resort town as an up-and-coming honeymoon destination. DeSanctis concluded: “We'll have a great hotel and we're going to have tremendous dining and entertainment options. We're right there on the beach, so we think this is a place where a lot of folks will like to come and get married. It's very much a resort experience.” (E-08.30.07)

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