AC's Revel sold? Vegas, Denver developer documents a deal

A group involving the former head of the Nevada-based Greenspun Corp., owner of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, said it has a deal to acquire the shuttered Revel casino in Atlantic City from developer Glenn Straub, according to records filed with the Atlantic County clerk's office.

The Aug. 31 "agreement of sale" document identifies Bruce Deifik, now president and chief executive of Denver-based developer Integrated Properties Inc., as the manager of the entity in charge of the company that would acquire the casino tower and adjacent power plant under the deal.

It would be extremely unusual to file such a document in connection with a property if no deal had been signed for its sale, although the agreement could be contingent on provisions such as financing or board approvals, according to lawyers who have worked on similar contracts.

Straub, however, said in an interview Wednesday that there was no deal to sell the failed 47-story, 900-guest-room resort, which his Polo North Country Club Inc. bought out of bankruptcy for $82 million in April 2015.

"There's no sale," he said. "I can file that I'm the king of Arabia at the clerk's office."

He also said there had been no talks to sell the property near the boardwalk's eastern terminus — built at a cost of $2.4 billion — to New York-based investment firm Keating & Associates LLC, which disclosed last month that it had offered $225 million for the resort.

Keating said in a Wednesday statement that it remained committed to acquiring the casino, despite the apparent agreement with Deifik's group.

Since its acquisition by Straub, the Revel has remained shuttered amid disputes with government officials, one of which culminated in a February ruling by the state Casino Control Commission that he must obtain a casino license for the property.

Straub has appealed that decision in state Superior Court in Atlantic County, arguing that his plan to lease part of the property to Connecticut developer Robert A. Landino to run as the so-called Ten casino resort means that he needs no license of his own.

When asked about the property's potential sale, Straub said he was waiting for a ruling on his appeal.

The Aug. 31 agreement-of-sale record was reported this week by the Atlantic City Press. The document identifies the prospective buyer of the Revel and power plant properties as New Jersey-based Ten RE ACNJ LLC.

Ten RE ACNJ was formed by Landino in December, according to separate state business records. Landino did not return a phone message left at his Middletown, Conn.-based real estate firm, Centerplan Cos., seeking details of his involvement with the potential purchase.

Deifik, meanwhile, is identified in the agreement documents as the manager of Colorado-based Mile High Dice MGR LLC, which, in turn, manages Ten RE ACNJ.

Ten RE ACNJ's formation documents were amended by Deifik on Aug. 1 to incorporate provisions of New Jersey's Casino Control Act, indicating that the company may intend to seek a gambling license in the future.

Deifik did not return a phone message asking about the deal with Straub.

Deifik's projects with Integrated Properties have included the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort in Palm Springs and central Denver's 16M mixed-use development, according to the real estate company's website.

He is also identified on the website of Las Vegas-based Fifth Street Gaming LLC, owner of properties including the Downtown Grand Las Vegas resort, as that company's principal and co-founder.

As president of Greenspun, a post he held until 2011, Deifik oversaw operations of the Sun newspaper, Vegas.com, and real-estate development subsidiary American Nevada Co., as well as various gaming partnerships, according to the Integrated Properties site.