Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. Estimated opening Spring 2011
By MICHAEL CLARK, Press of AC Staff Writer | Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Unlikely forces will band together today to protest a $300 million tax-incentive plan that Revel Entertainment Group is relying on to open its $2.6 billion casino project in Atlantic City.
Steve Lonegan, a conservative gubernatorial candidate last year, and members of the powerful hotel and casino workers’ union UNITE-HERE are scheduled to protest in front of the Jersey City offices of Morgan Stanley, the financial services provider that owns the South Inlet site where Revel sits.
Lonegan said his conservative advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, hopes to educate taxpayers outside the southern New Jersey region about the proposed deal.
“New Jersey cannot afford this bailout mania,” he told The Press of Atlantic City on Tuesday. “As people learn more and more, I don’t know how people are going to tolerate this.”
The plan would save Revel about $300 million in state sales taxes over 20 years, which could go a long way to attracting potential financiers. Lonegan said his group also is opposed to a $50 million plan that would redirect future Atlantic City property-tax revenue to fund infrastructure improvements around the half-built casino.
The Revel project remains under slow construction as company officials work to secure financing, the prospects of which have spiraled since the collapse of the financial market in 2008. In January 2009, Revel officials laid off 400 construction workers and pushed back the project’s grand opening from 2010 to 2011.
Revel Chairman and CEO Kevin DeSanctis initially had little reaction to news of the protest Tuesday, simply saying, “they’re persistent.” But he soon added to that.
“If they have a problem, I wish they would speak to the legislation,” DeSanctis said, referring to the stimulus act passed in the summer that enables abatements to qualified applicants. “I don’t recall anyone coming out like this when the legislation was passed.”
DeSanctis and his company has faced stiff opposition from Bob McDevitt, president of Local 54 of UNITE-HERE. The union leader started a petition drive against Revel’s proposal, which required Atlantic City Council approval. The group has also lobbied state legislators unsuccessfully.
Lonegan, who credited McDevitt for organizing today’s rally, said state lawmakers are describing the proposal as “a done deal.”
McDevitt, who did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday, is also the first political opponent of the plan to change the target from Revel to Morgan Stanley, a clear attempt to capitalize on widespread outrage over the banking bailouts of 2008. Morgan Stanley received $10 billion from the federal government.
Morgan Stanley purchased the city land in 2006, but Revel filed the application and is lobbying to obtain tax breaks.
“Revel made the application, not Morgan Stanley,” DeSanctis said. “There’s just too much confusion out there. The point is being lost.”