Revel Casino Deal Imperiled as Judge Denies Extension

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Revel Casino Deal Imperiled as Judge Denies Extension

A New Jersey bankruptcy judge overseeing Atlantic City’s Revel Casino Hotel dismissed a request from Florida developer Glenn Straub to extend the deadline by which he must close a $95.4 million deal to buy the closed resort.

While the judge stopped short of fully terminating the sale—a hearing on termination has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon—Wednesday’s ruling follows a week of turbulence and setbacks and likely means the deal can’t be salvaged.

A string of court rulings over the past week proved favorable to many of the resort’s former tenants and other creditors, muddying the terms of the deal. The rulings prompted Mr. Straub to try to extend the deadline to close the sale from Feb. 9 to Feb. 28.

“Every party that has appeared before the court today has asked the court not to grant the extension,” Judge Gloria Burns of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, N.J., said during Wednesday’s hearing. “The contract speaks for itself; the time has expired.”

Judge Burns added that if Mr. Straub had asked only for an extra couple of days, she would have granted the request.

“We are bitterly disappointed,” John Cunningham, a lawyer for Revel, said at the hearing. “They’ve had two months to close, and they didn’t do it.”

“We are anxious to close as quickly as possible, but we need to know what we’re closing on,” Stuart Moskovitz, a lawyer for Mr. Straub, said at the hearing Wednesday.

He also noted that the extension Mr. Straub requested is less time than it would take Revel to complete a new deal, which could prove costly to creditors.

“The attorneys will keep billing,” he said. “The building will sit there producing nothing.”

Should Judge Burns terminate the deal next week, Revel will once again be allowed to begin discussions with other potential buyers and will collect Mr. Straub’s $10 million deposit.

At least two other potential buyers have expressed interest in purchasing Revel, according to a person with knowledge of the sale process.

Mr. Straub had planned to rebrand Revel, adding more family-friendly amenities and possibly a scaled-down casino. Mr. Straub has also discussed installing a university at the Revel site, one that would tackle complex problems like nuclear-waste disposal.

Mr. Straub has said he hoped to invest as much as $500 million to revitalize Atlantic City, but it is unclear if he will continue to pursue investments in the city without Revel.

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