A U.S. bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of the now-closed Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City to Florida developer Glen Straub for $95.4 million, a price Straub said he now doesn't want to pay. Judge Gloria Burns approved the sale, though rejected his argument that the price should be cut to $87 million, Reuters reports.
Lawyers for Revel, which cost $2.4 billion to build, sought approval to sell the hotel to Straub's Polo North after an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management walked away last month from its $110-million agreement for the hotel.
That $110-million deal was scrapped when Brookfield reportedly pulled out over costly payments related to the property’s power plant. The payments to the power plant’s operator, which court papers show can exceed $3 million a month, remain a major sticking point, The Wall Street Journal reports. Straub said he intends to sever ties with the plant, though it remains unclear if there are any alternatives available to provide the casino and hotel with electricity and hot water.
Straub has said he wants to use the 1,400 room hotel as a think-tank to address social issues such as hunger.