French-themed resort idea scrapped

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000 | 9:51 a.m.

MGM MIRAGE of Las Vegas still wants to build a massive, billion-dollar-plus resort in Atlantic City -- but it won't be "Le Jardin," the megaresort first proposed by former Mirage Resorts Inc. Chairman Steve Wynn.

"We just don't think that's a market in which (the French theme) would be appropriate," said MGM MIRAGE spokesman Alan Feldman. "That was one of the early decisions we made about what direction we'd take in Atlantic City. We're still kicking around a couple of ideas."

At one point, Le Jardin was discussed as a 4,000-room resort, with a price tag of $2 billion -- a number that would have made it the most expensive hotel in history.

Feldman said the company remains interested in building a wholly owned hotel-casino at the 55-acre site, probably a 2,000-room resort in the $1 billion range. That would make it similar in size and cost to the Borgata, a hotel-casino being built next to the MGM MIRAGE casino site. The Borgata, a joint venture between MGM MIRAGE and Boyd Gaming Inc., is slated for completion in 2003.

"The Atlantic City market has ample room for the development of some exciting new hotel and resort projects," Feldman said. "It can certainly easily handle these two (the Borgata and the proposed MGM MIRAGE hotel-casino), and probably some others. There's plenty of room for creativity."

To date, Feldman said no decisions have been made on the other land parcels owned by MGM MIRAGE in Atlantic City.