The Associated Press
Atlantic City, NJ, July 28, 2007 — The city's gambling halls are betting $10 billion on a plan to separate visitors from more of their money by remaking this seedy seaside resort into a hipper, hotter destination with top entertainers, glitzy rooms and swank restaurants run by famous chefs.
Atlantic City's 11 casinos are in a frenzy of expansion and construction to compete with Las Vegas and to fight off unexpectedly strong competition from slots parlors in neighboring states.
Almost every casino here is spending millions of dollars to either expand or renovate, or has just finished doing so.
The building boom here is adding thousands of new hotel rooms as casino owners aim to remake the resort as a national destination instead of a place for bus-riding day trippers to linger for a few hours before hitting the buffet and going home.
One of the most conspicuous projects is the second tower of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Dubbed the Water Club, the $400 million addition will include 800 new guest rooms, a two-story "spa in the sky," five swimming pools and other luxury amenities.
Borgata executives held a "topping off" ceremony last week for the upper reaches of the 457-foot-tall tower, which will be one of the tallest buildings in Atlantic City when it is completed early next year.
"What we've seen since 2003 when we opened is that it's not merely gaming-centric any more," said Joseph A. Corbo Jr., the Borgata's general counsel and president of the Casino Association of New Jersey. "It's the amenities everyone offers - the restaurants, the spas, the nightlife, the entertainment."
All told, the Borgata's owners, Boyd Gaming and MGM Mirage, have invested $1.7 billion here in just four years.
The spending spree comes amid what seems destined to be the first year that revenues will decline in Atlantic City since casino gambling began in 1978. Much of the decline is being blamed on competition from newly opened slots parlors in Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware.
Atlantic City and Las Vegas are close when it comes to the amount of money they take in from gambling. Last year, Atlantic City netted $5.2 billion, while Las Vegas took in $6.5 billion.
But at $5 billion a year, Las Vegas does 10 times the non-gambling business Atlantic City does. That's something Atlantic City is trying to fix with Vegas-type amenities: high-end shopping, lavish indoor swimming pools and signature restaurants.
Robert Corrales, a spokesman for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, said casino companies plan $10 billion in new investments in Atlantic City over the next five to 10 years.
Harrah's Atlantic City is spending $550 million to add, among other things, a 941-room hotel tower in February. Projects either done or nearly finished at the three other casinos owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. - Bally's Atlantic City, the Showboat Casino-Hotel, and Caesars Atlantic City - total $245 million.
The Tropicana Casino Resort just spent $15 million renovating 507 rooms in its South Tower, and recently opened the Providence night club.
The Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, the city's smallest casino at 806 rooms, announced plans for a $1 billion expansion.
Work also is about to get under way on a $2 billion casino on the Boardwalk by the Morgan Stanley investment firm to be operated by Revel Entertainment on land next to the Showboat.
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