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By Maria Chutchian

While Atlantic City awaits a rescue plan from its newly appointed team of emergency managers, the beleaguered resort town’s newest casino, Revel AC, is about to scrap its second attempt to sell its assets out of bankruptcy.

Revel’s $2 billion casino and hotel resort opened to great fanfare in 2012, a sleek Vegas-style tower meant to stand out from its wizened neighbors along Atlantic City’s boardwalk. But the project has proven a colossal failure, and last June it sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in just two years. The casino was one of four that shuttered in 2014 – Revel has been joined in court by fellow Atlantic City casino owners Trump Entertainment Resorts and Caesars Entertainment Operating Company, both embroiled in their own contentious bankruptcy proceedings.

Meanwhile, Gov. Chris Christie has placed the city – which is itself trying to fend off bankruptcy rumors – under  the control of Emergency Manager Kevin Lavin, who is being advised by former Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr.

Revel closed its doors on September 2, after it failed to find a buyer willing to make a third attempt at reviving the Revel brand. Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management then emerged with a $110 million offer to purchase the building, but the deal fell apart in November following a dispute with bondholders connected to Revel’s power plant.

Revel and its bankruptcy attorneys at White & Case and Fox Rothschild then fell back on an offer from eccentric Florida real estate developer Glenn Straub, who had competed with Brookfield for the property and provided the opening bid at auction. But Straub, through his investment vehicle Polo North Country Club, had already proven to be a source of frustration and difficulty for Revel.

Straub and his attorney attended hearings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey throughout the fall as he battled Brookfield for the right to buy Revel’s assets. When Judge Gloria Burns held a hearing on the Brookfield sale, Straub took to the stand and offered rambling testimony explaining why he bailed during a late-night auction, accused Revel’s attorneys of conducting an unfair sale process and according to news reports, physically shoved a Revel financial advisor in the hallway of the courthouse following the hearing. He reportedly engaged in a shouting match with a Revel attorney after another hearing this month.