Two weeks ago, you were informed that rumors saying MGM Grand’s $4.5 billion Atlantic City project would not be built were not true. The reality is that, at the present time, MGM has its project manager and his team working diligently to be able to break ground in September or October of this year. To prove the point that MGM is serious about this project, the company is working with architects to expand the present office facility, on Delilah Road, to accommodate the additional staff necessary to develop its 75-acre site, adjacent to the Borgata. At the present time, MGM Grand’s CAFRA permits are being studied and it is anticipated they will receive approval in the not too distant future.

I had the privilege of viewing the model of the Atlantic City MGM Grand Casino entertainment complex. The three towers will be of varying heights. The smallest tower will rise 600 feet and will have 1,200 keys for the rooms that will be over 400 square feet. The middle-sized tower will be 700-feet high and will also have 1,200 keys for rooms and suites. The largest tower will be 800-feet tall and will have only 500 keys. This will be an all-suite tower with magnificent penthouse suites on the upper levels. There will be two connectors for the three towers. The upper one will house a spa. The podium for the three towers will be two stories high and contain 200,000 square feet of casino space. A large area has been set for retail, restaurant and entertainment venues.

The project will include a 9,000-car garage with the latest technology to assist guests parking their cars. There will be digital signs informing drivers how many spaces there are open on each floor as they drive into the garage.

An item appeared in this column recently about a 12,000-seat arena for the Atlantic City MGM Grand project that was to be located on the 15-acre site it owns adjacent to the Trump Marina. That idea has been dropped. Instead, plans are to have a 7,500-seat arena built adjacent to the complex. It is my assumption that the change was made because a smaller arena would get more use than a larger one. It is also better to have those attending an event in the arena walk directly into the casino, retail units, restaurants and entertainment venues. Further information about this project will follow as it develops.

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Bashaw and Barr’s Casino Plans Unveiled
An application to CAFRA resulted in the unveiling of plans to build a $1.5 to $2 billion Atlantic Beach Resort and Casino. The site for this complex has been written about in this column on several occasions. It encompasses the area from Hartford Avenue to Lincoln Place, the Boardwalk to Ventnor Avenue, Pacific and Atlantic avenues. There will also be a piece of the Veteran’s Park and the monument at Albany and Ventnor avenues involved in this project. Curtis Bashaw, the developer of the Chelsea Hotel, which will open in August, and Wally Barr, former president of Bally’s and Caesars, are the principals in this development. Originally Bashaw said they would build a boutique casino, however, this project is too big to qualify as a boutique facility. The plan is to have an 852-foot high, 2,000-room hotel tower, which would make it the tallest tower in Atlantic City and the state. There will be 210,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment attractions and 210,000 squre feet of gaming space. The former Atlantic City High School site will become a 4,200-car parking garage. Long-range plans would see a 500-room hotel built on top of the garage. If the financial markets straighten out, Bashaw and Barr would like to break ground in 2009. The site, at the end of Route 40, is one of the most attractive sites in the city, offering a wide beach and an expanded boardwalk.

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Good Times Lurk Ahead
Let’s take a look at the projects that are under construction and those that are planned. Revel Entertainment’s $2 billion casino entertainment complex is to be completed in 2010. There are those who have raised concerns about Revel being able to get second-phase financing. Those involved say Revel will be able to get the necessary financing to complete the project on time.

Going down the island, we have Pinnacle Entertainment’s $1.5 to $2 billion complex; the company will wait until the financial markets are right before beginning the project. In the meantime, Pinnacle continues to seek out other properties to add to its present site.

It is anticipated that whomever buys the Tropicana will spend at least a few hundred million dollars to update the complex.

Above you have read about the Atlantic Beach Resort and Casino, the Pinnacle and MGM Grand projects. Put those project sums with the new $350 million tower at Harrah’s, Borgata’s $400 million Water Club and the new $250 million Taj Mahal tower and this comes to a total of more than $10 billion dollars. More than $1 billion of that amount will be added to the Atlantic City tax roll this year. Note that this does not include the sale of Bader Field, which will take place this year.

There can be no consideration of the development costs for Bader Field until we know the number and size of those projects, but it could double those listed above. Yes, good times do lurk ahead.