Boyd Gaming and MGM Mirage Break Ground for $1 Bil. Resort

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ-Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage, both based in Las Vegas, have broken ground for the Borgata. When the sprawling 30-acre resort opens in three years, it will be the first new casino hotel in this resort city in 13 years.

“It represents significant growth opportunities for our company and for Atlantic City,” says Boyd Co. chairman William Boyd, whose company owns or operates 11 casino properties in Nevada, Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana and Louisiana. “This property will create a fun and energetic atmosphere. It will be the first casino resort built under the new, more customer-friendly regulations affecting casino design in Atlantic City.”

MGM Mirage chairman Terry Lanni says the project heralds the next round of development in AC: “We believe Atlantic City has a bright future.” His company is the result of the merger earlier this year of MGM Grand and Mirage Resorts. Its signature properties are the MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mirage, Treasure Island, Golden Nugget and New York New York, all in Las Vegas, and its portfolio of holdings covers three continents.

By the numbers, the $1-billion, 40-story property will have 2,010 guest rooms, the city’s largest, plus 120,000 sf of gaming space. It will have 10 restaurants, retail shops, a spa, meeting and banquet facilities, 120 gaming tables, 3,650 slot machines and 6,500 parking spaces. Altogether, it will have more than four million sf of building space, according to Boyd.

The property will rise in the city’s Marina District, as opposed to the Boardwalk, where the majority of the city’s casino hotels are located. A new four-lane highway, currently under construction, will facilitate the flow of traffic to the Borgata and other Marina casino hotels by connecting the Atlantic City Expressway to the District.

Anthony A. Marnell II is the principal architect for the project, and Dougall Design Associates is the principal interior designer. Yates/Tishman, a joint venture of W.G. Yates & Sons and Tishman Construction of NJ, is construction manager.