AC growth continues with casino projects

John Curran

Thursday, May 23, 2002 | 9:29 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- At one end of town, there was a grand opening ceremony for a $200 million casino expansion. At the other, civic leaders broke ground for a $60 million retail project.

In between, MGM MIRAGE said it would forge ahead with plans for a $1.5 billion Las Vegas-style casino -- right next to The Borgata, a $1 billion casino hotel whose gleaming 480-foot tower is rising up in the marina district, to open next year.

Atlantic City, which hasn't seen a new casino hotel open in 12 years, is on a roll again. Only this time, it's more than slot machines and parking garages.

Gov. James E. McGreevey joined with civic leaders Wednesday to break ground for The Walk-Atlantic City, a retail project developed by The Cordish Co., of Baltimore.

The 310,000-square-foot project, which will include entertainment and dining, is 80 percent leased. Signed tenants include Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica, Timberland, Geoffrey Beene, Liz Claiborne and Oshkosh B'Gosh.

"You have wonderful casino gaming and you have wonderful hotels," developer David Cordish said. "What you don't have is the rest of the package, namely retail and entertainment."

Located between the Boardwalk and the Atlantic City Convention Center hotel, The Walk will help Atlantic City appeal to people who want something to do besides gamble, officials said.

"This project will go a long way toward diversifying our economy," Mayor Lorenzo Langford said.

Earlier Wednesday, McGreevey cut the ribbon on an expansion at Harrah's Atlantic City that added a 452-room hotel tower and dramatically revamped the entrance.

The exterior of the 25-story tower features a light show with 42 different configurations that can be seen for miles. In addition, the hotel's front desk is now backed by three 3,000-gallon fish tanks featuring schooling fish.

The additions make Harrah's the state's largest hotel, with 1,626 rooms. More importantly, Harrah's officials say, the renovation project makes Harrah's Atlantic City "the first resort of its kind east of Las Vegas."

More of Las Vegas is coming.

The Borgata, a 2,010-room casino hotel in the marina district, is scheduled to open in July 2003. The casino, a joint venture of Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM MIRAGE, both of Las Vegas, will be the first new casino hotel to open in Atlantic City since Trump Taj Mahal in 1990.

Meanwhile MGM MIRAGE is proceeding with plans to build a casino hotel of 1,500 to 2,000 rooms on a parcel next to The Borgata. J. Terrence Lanni, executive chairman of MGM MIRAGE, said Wednesday his company will break ground in September 2003.

Work is already under way on a $225 million expansion of the Tropicana Casino and Resort that will add a 502-room hotel tower, a parking garage and a 200,000-square-foot shopping area.

"Things are very good in this area, the prospects are very bright as far as the construction trades are concerned," said Joseph Wilkins, secretary-treasurer of the 1,800-member South Jersey Building Trades Council.