http://www.globest.com/news/992_992/.../164012-1.html
Mega-Resort Starts Permit Process
By Eric Peterson
ATLANTIC CITY-The overall gaming numbers may continue to weaken here, but the next big hotel/casino project is taking a step forward anyway. Revel Entertainment’s proposed mega-project for 20 boardwalk/oceanfront acres has entered the permitting process with an application for a state Coastal Area Facility Review Act permit. Revel has simultaneously filed a site plan application with this city’s planning division.
As reported by GlobeSt.com, Revel Entertainment, headed by long-time casino exec Kevin DeSanctis, first unveiled very general plans for the site in April.
The two permit applications just filed flesh out those plans a bit more, spelling out a proposal for two hotel towers with 1,900 rooms each. Also part of the plan is a total of 150,000 sf of casino space and upwards of 500,000 sf of retail, dining and entertainment space.
“The submission of our Cafra and city planning applications are important milestones, because with their approval we will have established the appropriate regulatory framework to obtain the building permits necessary to start construction,” says DeSanctis, who founded the locally based Revel in 2006. “We look forward to continuing our work with local and state authorities and gaming regulators to develop a distinctive beachfront casino entertainment resort.
“It will help define the future of Atlantic City, while creating jobs, tax revenues and other sustainable economic benefits for the region,” he says. The site itself is at the northern end of this city’s oceanfront, and features more than 1,000 feet of beach frontage. As reported by GlobeSt.com, Morgan Stanley subsidiary Ventura AC owns the property, and Morgan Stanley is provided substantial financial backing for the yet-to-be-named project.
And the hotel towers could become the tallest building in the state, topping the current champ, the 781-foot Goldman Sachs tower in Jersey City. Earlier this year, the city council raised the site’s height limit from 485 feet to 800 feet, and the towers are expected to hit that number.
Revel has also lined up its design and construction team for the project. On board are Tishman Construction Corp. as construction manager, Arquitectonica as design architect, BLT Architects as executive architect and architect of record, and SOSH Architects as associate architect.