Casinos still seem to be popping up everywhere as seeminglydesperate states pass enabling laws, looking to stimulate economicexpansion in down-and-out areas or raise tax dollars—anything toovercome the effects of the lukewarm economy on revenue growth.
But this week we have more evidence that casino bets are turninginto longer shots especially for older properties—it's become acommodity business already in oversupply with increasing numbers ofveteran operators in bankruptcy and shutting down unable to matchthe ersatz glitz of new competition.
Atlantic City is the poster child—its boardwalk lineup of ageinggambling halls now in accelerated decline (four hotels recentlyclosed, and another shutting down soon with thousands of jobslost). Even with an East Coast casino monopoly, the south Jerseylocation offered only a warmed over version of a Las Vegasdiversion—attracting busloads of day players working the slots, notthe really profitable high roller crowd. For all the talk abouturban revival, the State of New Jersey never steered any of thegambling related revenues into meaningful redevelopment of thedilapidated neighborhoods away from Atlantic City's seaside. Nowthe state is left with a mess and investors with more losses.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
*May exclude premium content
Already have an account?
Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.