The Sands and Treymour sites in Atlantic City, N.J., from companies affiliated with financier Carl Icahn for approximately $250 million.
The land to be acquired consists of approximately 18 acres adjacent to the heart of Atlantic City, with extensive wires forming along the boardwalk, Pacific Avenue, and Brighton Park. Pinnacle plans to design and build a completely new casino hotel on the site, making it one of the largest and most spectacular resorts in the region.
Pinnacle has called for sellers to close their existing hotel-casino as part of the deal, which is expected to happen within about 70 days of signing the deal. The closure will spur construction of the new, much larger facility as soon as possible. The 26-year-old Sands is one of the first gaming resorts to open in Atlantic City, and one of the smallest properties in the city.
“Atlantic cities are one of the best U.S. gaming destinations, and we can’t wait to be part of the world-famous boardwalk,” said Daniel R. Lee, Pinnacle’s president and CEO. “This major new resort will be a key component in our plan to build a nationwide network of gaming properties. It will also help extend our development pipeline and our company’s growth beyond 2010. Regarding our longstanding interest in Atlantic cities, we submitted an initial licensing application in New Jersey a few months ago. The regulatory investigation is ongoing.
“The recent success of Atlantic City’s development has demonstrated that our Northeast customers are positively responsive to the state-of-the-art gaming resort design and amenities,” Lee continued. “While we regret the need to close Sands to create an exciting new resort, we look forward to working with gaming regulators, state and local authorities on this project to generate more jobs, tax revenue, and other lasting benefits.”
Under federal law, employees will soon be notified that they will close in 60 days. The agreement provides for unionized severance pay among provisions for employees and severance pay for non-union workers who will close in 60 days.
Mr. Icahn said, “After spending months reviewing various projects on this property, it became clear that the closure of Sands was necessary and inevitable to make room for a great new casino. We also concluded that given Atlantic City’s strong employment environment, this closure is the most appropriate time to begin.슬롯머신