Crucial Summer For Atlantic City Starts With New Investments

This summer is a crucial one for Atlantic City as it tries to recover lost business during the third year of the coronavirus pandemic, and casinos and non-gambling resorts are putting millions into renovations and new attractions to compete for visitors.

Casinos and non-gambling companies are making big investments in what they hope will be a corner-turning season with customers more willing than in the previous two years to visit Atlantic City attractions amid the still-not-over pandemic.

“This is a really important summer for Atlantic City,” said Phil Juliano, senior vice president of Bally’s casino, which opened a 360-degree rotating bar and a part of an indoor-outdoor beer garden on Thursday. The projects are part of $100 million the company is investing in the property.

He said Atlantic City was showing signs of growth in early 2020, only to have those hopes dashed by the coronavirus pandemic which closed the casinos for 3 1/2 months in March, and led to operating restrictions for more than a year afterward.

“This is an interesting summer: You have inflation, you still have COVID and high gas prices, but you also have pent-up demand,” Juliano said. “People are coming out again, and we need that.”

Also on Thursday, Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small announced the receipt of a $6 million federal grant to rebuild a section of the Boardwalk between Florida and Missouri avenues that is over 100 years old. Work will begin in the fall and be completed next summer.

The Atlantic City casino industry is vital to southern New Jersey’s economy, said Christina Renna, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey.

“As we continue to rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry’s growth and prosperity is more important than ever before,” she said.

Atlantic City enters the summer amid some encouraging signs — and some concerning weaknesses. The casinos’ collective revenue and profitability are up this year, but not all the casinos have surpassed the levels they were operating at in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

On Saturday, the Showboat hotel, the former casino, will open its $1.5 million indoor go-kart track, even as it works to build a $100 million year-round indoor water park, private financing for which was secured on Thursday, owner Bart Blatstein said.

He said his go-kart course is “another non-gambling amenity in a market where only 8% of visitors are families. It’s a way to bring in a new market.”

Resorts is working on a multi-million dollar renovation of its rooftop outdoor pool, including a retractable roof and party areas that should be ready in late June. On Friday, Resorts will open Coral Lounge, a new under-the-sea-themed pop-up bar.

The Ocean Casino Resort is in the midst of $85 million worth of projects, including the completion of over 460 hotel rooms and suites; a new sportsbook and lounge, and multiple new food and beverage outlets. It also will offer bicycle rentals outside its main entrance this summer.

Hard Rock will spend $20 million this year on renovations including adding 70 slot machines and seven more table games; renovating its convention space, beach bar and employee areas.

Caesars casino will start work this year on a new theater and resident show due to open in the first quarter of 2023. The project will incorporate the facade of the former Warner Theatre from 1929, which is currently part of the casino’s exterior facing the Boardwalk.

Also planned for Caesars in 2022 is a new restaurant, opened by a hospitality company involving actor Robert De Niro that also will renovate hotel rooms there. Caesars Entertainment is partnering with Nobu Hospitality for a project to be called Nobu Hotel Atlantic City.

Tropicana is adding eight new food and beverage outlets this year and Harrah’s will open three casual dining outlets.

By WAYNE PARRY

Investments In New Projects On Tap For 2022 In Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City’s casinos are forging ahead with ambitious new projects in 2022, even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to make it harder to do business.

And non-casino projects involving family entertainment, education and the offshore wind industry will take flight in the new year.

But challenges lurk, as well.

In-person gambling revenue at seven of the nine casinos is down compared with 2019, before the pandemic hit. Sports betting and internet gambling revenue has filled some of the gap, but that money must be shared with third parties, including technology platforms and sports books, and is not solely for the casinos to keep.

A law passed signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in December gives the casinos some relief from big increases in payments they were due to pay to Atlantic City, Atlantic County and the schools system in lieu of property taxes.

A big unknown is how long and how seriously the COVID19 pandemic, and particularly the fast-spreading omicron variant, will affect customers’ willingness to come out and gamble in person in 2022.

And a big challenge is right around the corner when New York begins allowing people to bet on phones or other mobile devices anywhere in the state, as soon as January but almost certainly in time for the Super Bowl in February.

Gambling industry executives and analysts expect New Jersey to lose at least 20% of its sports betting volume as New York residents who formerly had to cross over into New Jersey to bet will be able to do it at or close to home.

Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts casino, said he is “tremendously optimistic for a great year” in 2022.

Starting in February, Resorts is renovating its rooftop pool, adding a retractable roof to enable it to be used year-round. Resorts also is investing $5 million into new table games and slot machines, remodeling its high-limit slots area, and creating a new VIP Asian-themed room.

The Ocean Casino Resort plans to begin a $75 million project in spring or summer to finish 12 floors of hotel rooms that were never completed when the casino first opened as Revel in 2012.

Caesars casino will start work in 2022 on a new theater and resident show due to open in the first quarter of 2023. The project will incorporate the facade of the former Warner Theatre from 1929, which is currently part of the casino’s exterior facing the Boardwalk.

Also planned for Caesars in 2022 is a new restaurant opened by a hospitality company involving actor Robert De Niro that also will renovate hotel rooms there. Caesars Entertainment is partnering with Nobu Hospitality for a project to be called Nobu Hotel Atlantic City.

Bally’s will unveil 750 renovated hotel rooms, a redone hotel lobby and bar, and an indoor-outdoor entertainment venue in 2022.

A $100 million indoor water park to be built next to the former Showboat casino, which now operates as a nongambling hotel, plans a ground breaking for early 2022.

Atlantic City will host a three-day country music concert on the beach in August headlined by Luke Bryan and Morgan Wallen.

Construction is to begin in 2022 on a new ShopRite supermarket in Atlantic City, designed to end the city’s status as a “food desert” without a major supermarket. The project should open in 2023.

Stockton University hopes to complete a new student residence hall in the city in 2022.

Atlantic City will play a big role in the burgeoning offshore wind energy industry. Atlantic Cape Community College plans to open a wind energy workforce training center on its city campus in the fall, and wind developer Orsted hopes to start work in 2022 on a maintenance and operations center in Atlantic City to support its offshore wind projects in the area.

And a plan that has gotten little attention outside of Atlantic City but which will affect most visitors to the city is due to begin in 2022.

The city plans to reduce Atlantic Avenue, one of its two main north-south thoroughfares, from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction, in the name of pedestrian safety.

But many residents and businesses oppose the plan, predicting that traffic that is already difficult to navigate under current conditions will become even worse with only one lane in each direction.

Nevada Casinos Go Record 9 Months With $1B In House Winnings

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority set a record in November, reporting a ninth straight month of $1 billion or more in house winnings, gambling regulators said Wednesday, providing another sign that business in the nation’s tourist-dependent gambling mecca has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The $1.32 billion in casino winnings reported statewide last month was up from $1.22 billion in October, and almost reached the record $1.36 billion figure set last July, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported.

The streak beat the previous record of eight consecutive months set before the Great Recession, from October 2006 to May 2007, board senior analyst Michael Lawton said.

Nevada sports betting also set records — reaping a record $72 million in November on sports wagers totaling $1.1 billion.

Lawton said the previous record was $61.8 million in sports bets won by casinos in November 2020, and he noted sports books took in more than $1 billion in wagers in consecutive months for the first time. Most sports wagers were made with mobile betting apps.

“The continued acceptance of mobile sports wagering by customers is driving these results,” Lawton said. “This month represented the highest monthly total recorded in mobile (bets) since the board began tracking these wagers in January 2020.”

Business generally has been buoyed by visitors with money to spend, Lawton said, and a sustained rebound of leisure travel and the return in early November of airline flights from international places other than Canada and Mexico.

Special events and entertainment also helped push casino winnings for the year-to-date to almost 12% past 2019 levels. Only North Las Vegas and Laughlin are still below 2019 calendar year levels, Lawton said.

Most economic and revenue comparisons don’t use 2020, when many businesses were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nevada collected almost $93.6 million in tax revenues based on the November figures, the report said.

Lawton noted a full month of events in November included the return to Las Vegas of the big automobile-oriented Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show; the start of entertainer Sting’s residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace; a Rolling Stones concert at Allegiant Stadium; boxing at the MGM Grand Arena and Mandalay Bay Events Center; and two Las Vegas Raiders home games.

The report came with newly renamed Harry Reid International Airport reporting passenger traffic ramping up almost to levels seen two years ago.

The former McCarran International Airport reported Tuesday that it handled about 4 million arriving and departing passengers in November, down just 4.4% from the same month in 2019.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported 3.1 million visitors during the month, down 8% from 3.4 million in October. The regional tourism agency reported an average daily room rate of almost $156, up more than 15% from November 2019.