Revel employees Joe Lucchetti, of Turnersville, N.J., left, and Robert Fitting, of Berlin, N.J. remove letters from a sign at Revel hotel-casino, Monday, Sept. 1, 2014, in Atlantic City, N.J.Michael Ein/The Associated Press
Nothing has come easily for Atlantic City's Revel casino, from the death of three executives in a plane crash to running out of money, going bankrupt twice and finally closing after just over two years of operation.
But the difficulties for the $2.4-billion (U.S.) resort reached a new level Monday when a Florida developer won the right to buy it for $95.4-million – and immediately announced he was going to court to halt the sale to himself.
In the fall, Glenn Straub bid $95.4-million for the casino resort. He wanted Justice Gloria Burns to approve an $87-million sale price, which she refused to do.
The judge ruled that Mr. Straub's most recent bid is still binding, and that is the price he will have to pay. That led Mr. Straub's attorney, Stuart Moskovitz, to say he will seek a court order halting the sale to his client. He asked Ms. Burns to issue a stay to her own order, but she refused.
During a break in the hearing, Mr. Moskovitz said Mr. Straub "is not making any decisions right now."
Mr. Straub batted away most reporters' questions, refusing to say whether he intends to operate the property as a casino hotel or for some other purpose. One of many ideas he has floated involves gathering the world's top minds at the site to work at a "genius academy" to tackle society's problems.
But Mr. Straub also sounded like it would not trouble him too deeply if the deal fell through. He said he remains interested in "wineries and country clubs" in the region.
Ms. Burns reiterated her belief that the auction was done properly, and that there are no grounds to void its results – something Mr. Straub had sought as an alternative if his request for a lower purchase price was rebuffed.
In October, 2014, the court approved a sale to Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Inc. for $110-million. Brookfield pulled out of the deal a month later in a dispute with bondholders over debt from the construction of Revel's costly power plant.
That led the court to turn to Mr. Straub's Polo North Country Club as the runner-up bidder, whose last bid was $95.4-million.
Revel shut down on Sept. 2 after little more than two years of operation in which it never turned a profit. It was one of four Atlantic City casinos to close in 2014.