In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Morgan Stanley said it will seek to sell or auction off the project.The filing said the company's directors on Wednesday "authorized management to proceed with a plan of disposal for Revel Entertainment Group, LLC," a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. According to the filing, the company may consider a direct sale to a third-party or an auction process.

Neither Morgan Stanley officials nor Kevin DeSanctis, chairman and CEO of Revel Entertainment, immediately returned messages. But DeSanctis, told the Associated Press the project will still get built. "The key is to ultimately figure out who will end up with that equity piece, whether it's Revel, Revel with a partner or someone else," he said.

Just weeks before this announcement, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority approved the South Inlet Demolition Program, with Revel Entertainment set to fund up to $500,000 of the program's cost. It is unclear if this project will proceed as planned.

What is known is that the casino and its 2,000-room hotel are widely seen as crucial to Atlantic City's efforts to compete with neighboring states, which soon will offer table games that threaten to further erode New Jersey's one-time monopoly on East Coast gambling.