Mirage’s Atlantic City project inches along despite takeover uncertainty

John Curran

Thursday, March 2, 2000 | 10:20 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Plodding ahead despite a looming takeover bid, Mirage Resorts officials went before city planners Wednesday to describe the roads and utilities they will build on a former landfill where they plan to build a $1 billion casino.

In a presentation to the city Planning Board, a lawyer and a team of engineers and planners from Mirage said the company is spending $40 million cleaning up the landfill and up to $100 million more on roads, utilities, landscaping and other site work needed before construction can begin on the 1,144-room Le Jardin Palais.

"These things have to be done before we can do anything with the site," said Mirage Atlantic City spokeswoman Karen Reses.

Le Jardin, the centerpiece of a long-awaited second wave of casinos here, was first proposed in 1995 but has been plagued by delays. Mirage, which had hoped to break ground last fall, has yet to do so.

The takeover bid by MGM Grand Inc. - another Las Vegas casino giant planning an Atlantic City project - has only muddied the water further, frustrating city officials who now wonder if either will be built.

"It's been one delay after another because of the suits and other things," said City Council President Rosalind Norrell-Nance. "There's some things you have control over and some things you don't. If you want to see development happen here, you have to be patient, regardless of how much it hurts."

She said she doubted that Mirage Resorts chairman Stephen A. Wynn would sell the company, but acknowledged that stockholders may be the ones who hold the cards in the decision.

Mirage rejected MGM's initial bid of $3.5 billion Tuesday.

MGM isn't Mirage's only distraction here, either. Trump Hotels, which settled a pair of lawsuits involving Mirage last week, apparently is not done fighting its rival.

Trump lawyer Nicholas F. Talvacchia tried unsuccessfully Wednesday to get the Planning Board to put off considering Mirage's site improvements.

Trump is still awaiting a hearing on his challenge to part of the road project - he says an elevated bypass on U.S. 30 would block signs for his Trump Marina casino - and it would be premature to approve a road plan for the Mirage site without knowing how the roads would connect to public roads around it, Talvacchia said.

Asked why Trump was still seeking to block Mirage, Talvacchia declined comment, referring a reporter to Joseph A. Fusco, executive vice president of governmental relations for Trump Hotels. Fusco said the roads issue was not part of the lawsuit settlement. "Legitimate question," he said.

As it turned out, the Planning Board did not rule on the road plan anyway, putting off a decision until more testimony is given.

But Mirage is expected to continue inching forward unless - or until - an MGM takeover occurs.

"Everything I've heard from the Mirage Corporation is that they're still planning to come to Atlantic City," Norrell-Nance said.