ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Caesars Entertainment is showing
the soon-to-close Showboat Casino Hotel to "an interested party," but
won't say who it is.
Company spokesman Gary Thompson told The Associated Press
that Caesars officials were showing the Showboat on Tuesday afternoon to a
party that had expressed interest. The casino is due to close on Sunday, one of
three Atlantic City casinos shutting down over the next few weeks, along with
Revel and Trump Plaza.
"We continue to review inquiries from potential
purchasers and, in fact, are conducting a tour of the property with an
interested party today," Thompson told the AP. "Not much more I can
say at this point, as things can change very quickly."
He could not immediately say whether the interested party is
considering operating the Showboat as a casino, or as a non-gambling facility
after it has closed down.
Caesars has said repeatedly there are too many casinos in
Atlantic City, and has worked to reduce that number. It bought the former
Atlantic Club in a bankruptcy court sale last December with Tropicana
Entertainment, shut it down in January and sold it to a Florida company which
plans to run it as a non-casino hotel. That same firm, TJM Properties, also
bought the former Claridge Casino hotel from Caesars, and is running that as a
non-casino hotel, as well.
When it announced it was closing the Showboat, Caesars said
it was acting to reduce the number of casinos in Atlantic City, which began the
year with 12, but will have only eight before summer's end.
The company has drawn fire from political and labor groups
for placing deed restrictions on former casinos that it sells, preventing a
purchaser from operating them as casinos.
Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian said earlier in the day he
knows of no potential developments that would prevent Showboat from shutting
down Sunday, or that would delay Revel's two-day shutdown Sept. 1 and 2. Trump
Plaza is shutting down Sept. 16.
The state's Gaming Enforcement Division has already issued a
closing order for Showboat, which is due to shut its doors at 4 p.m. Sunday.
And Caesars Entertainment has already charged some employee
severance costs against the company's quarterly earnings, and classified
Showboat as a "discontinued operation" in a filing with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Source: Philly.com
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