The Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City has been closed for six months (cue reminder that Donald Trump somehow ran multiple casinos into the ground). It will not be opening any time particularly soon, but it does look like it will have new life breathed into it, as its sale to Hard Rock International was finalized on Friday.
The Taj Mahal was owned by billionaire investor and current special advisor to President Trump (funny how that works), Carl Icahn. Icahn was the largest debtholder of Trump Entertainment Resorts when that company entered its billionteenth bankruptcy proceeding in September 2014. When the company came out of bankruptcy in February 2016, Icahn took over the Taj Mahal.
One would have expected that to be a good thing. The guy had billions and also owned the Tropicana, so he supposedly knew what was up. Icahn also said he would plow $100 million into the Taj for much needed updates. The catch there, though, was that he wanted tax breaks from New Jersey and Atlantic City and concessions from the Unite Here Local 54 union. He got the latter (union members lost their healthcare and pension benefits) but not the former, so he never injected that $100 million.
Once Icahn took over, the union attempted to get its members’ benefits back via negotiations, but when Icahn wouldn’t play ball, about 1,000 union members went on strike on July 1st, 2016. The next month, it was announced that the Trump Taj Mahal would close, with the company blaming the striking employees.
The Taj Mahal closed on October 10th, 2016.
While there were reports that Icahn was in talks with casino operators to sell the property, he said in January 2017 that the casino was not for sale. It was thought that he was going to attempt to re-open it with non-union labor.
Shortly after he Icahn said he wasn’t looking to sell the Taj, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian expressed his thoughts to reporters of a State of the City address:
It’s the worst of the worst, things like that. Taj Mahal was the crown jewel before the Borgata in Atlantic City. It’s a great facility, but it didn’t get that $100 million face lift that the other properties got in Atlantic City and so you knew it when you walked in there. But it’s a great property; I really hope that Mr. Icahn, if he doesn’t want to build, sells it…and lets someone else come in and do it.
He doesn’t have any faith in the city, I get it, or the state…but don’t let us lose that building and leave it vacant on the Boardwalk. We need the thousands of jobs, we need the taxes, and we need the type of activity that it draws to bring people to Atlantic City.
Upon hearing that, Icahn piped up, saying he would sell the Taj Mahal to Guardian for $300 million, the amount Icahn had allegedly lost on the property.
Fast forward a couple months to early March and Icahn agreed to terms with Hard Rock International, a deal which was finalized last week. No dollar figures have been made public. Hard Rock has a press conference scheduled for Wednesday, during which company reps will presumably explain their plans for the casino. They have already said they want to re-open it next spring.
“We are excited to be part of this revitalization of Atlantic City creating thousands of jobs to help local employment,” said Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International, in a statement in March. “We are 100 percent convinced Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City will be a success.”