Revel sold, finally, for $82M

CAMDEN -

Three years to the day after Atlantic City's $2.4 billion Revel casino opened - and seven months to the day after it closed - a bankruptcy court judge approved its sale to a Florida developer for about 4 cents on the dollar.

Judge Gloria Burns approved the $82 million deal, which did not address the rights of former business tenants at the casino to operate there when it reopens. The approval yesterday came after Glenn Straub's Polo North Country Club agreed to drop its demand that the sale go through "free and clear of encumbrances" like the tenants' leases - an issue that had helped scuttle several prior attempts to sell the casino. Burns said the issue of whether tenants can remain there should be worked out with Straub outside of bankruptcy court.

"We have to get started," Straub said. "This is less than a month and a half from now."

Referring to an estimated investment in reconfiguring the building, Straub said, "I can't afford to sit on $150 million."

Straub said after the hearing he has reached a deal to buy several casinos or former casinos in Atlantic City as part of a $500 million, multifaceted deal. He said details would be revealed tomorrow, but added, "I've already bought them."