Following several months of conflict and false starts in the bankruptcy court of New Jersey, the sale of the Revel building has been approved for $82 million to developer Glenn Straub from Florida.
Revel declared a bust a mere two years after its $2.4 billion construction in Atlantic City, and has since been subject of judicial postponement and auction offers and withdrawals.
Judge Gloria Burns announced her decision on Thursday after Straub’s agreement to drop his demand that the sale proceeds "free and clear of encumbrances" such as tenants' leases. Judge Burns stated that the agreement should be worked out with Straub outside of the court.
Straub’s legal representatives and and the owners of Revel will need to wait until Monday to finalize the sale after Judge Burns was prevented from signing an official order due to late arguments.
Reports from the media suggested that Straub had intended to invest around $150 million to fund the reconfiguring of the whole multi-storey building.
Staub also stated that he has arranged the purchase of several of Atlantic City’s casinos or former casinos as part of a $500 million, multi-faceted deal, with further details yet to be released.
The developer's original agreement to purchase Revel for $95 million failed to close in time, resulting in his later, reduced offer. Prior to that, Brookfield Asset Management from Toronto backed out of its $110 million agreement, thus forfeiting its deposit of $11 million.