Costello Real Estate

The Economy in AC

2008-11-09T03:09:00.000-08:00

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/more-bad-news-likely-in-store-for-ac/241985
For the first nine months of the year, Atlantic City casinos won $3.6 billion, down 6.3 percent from the same period in 2007.

Poor casino's only won 3.6 billion so far this year. Down 6.3, what they don't say is that since Borgata opened they went up at least 6.3 in revenue. I'll contribute the slow down to a mix of things. One, they are now building slot parlors and casinos in all neighboring states including Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New York where most of the day visitors come from. Of course to plan for this the city did nothing but put together a smoking ban that launched this past month. This smoking ban single handedly decreased revenues by such a tremendous amount that all the employees that were for it ran into a city counsel meeting and had it changed so they could keep their jobs. Of course the overall economy effects the ability for new developers to borrow to finish a project like Pinnacle. Ironically enough the straw that broke Pinnacle's back was not revenue or money, but a Porn shop on the corner of Pacific ave is holding out and asking about 8 million? or so for it to leave. Pinnacle's land acquisition team should have picked this up in phase one, not after acquiring and tearing down a casino and launching a multi million dollar ad campaign. Like everything else, everyone is very gloom and doom, that it is horrible and will never be better again. People are afraid, and when they have fear they don't spend... but they still spent 6.3 billion so far this year.
In the end Atlantic City will still be the only casino's on the beach in Atlantic City. They need to play up their nostalgia and keep the older buildings and stop tearing them down. If people want Vegas they will simply go to Vegas. There has been 400 layoffs at Borgata and I think about 200 of them are dealers? My brother just missed the cut and kept his job. They have moved some people to different shifts and have mostly kept people based on seniority as the union would demand. None the less, they seem to now be leaning on the people they kept to fill the time. This simply means they can't get days off like they use to before. What this tells me is that they could have afforded to keep a few employees, but used this opportunity to slim down once in case it gets more slim in the near future. The management of this monster company is very wise, hence their massive success and still remaining success.
There is no doubt business is down and it is down for everyone. It is also November and people are scared to death of the outcome from this election. World safety and homeland security are now back on the table and everyone has interest in making sure this newly elected president is going to know what to do, now that the tele-promters are off and he can no longer compare his opponents to George Bush for a favorable result.
Overall Real Estate in AC has leveled off but remains stable in it's decline. Riskier neighborhoods and investment property areas are sitting stagnant while people still buy up the good neighborhoods when the prices are right. Everyone is making a lot less, they then again, we just spent four years making a lot more then we should have. Those who have lived outside of their means are paying the price as we speak, those who were humble are still being thankful for this recent past boom. Those with adjustable rates are pointing the finger and being victims, those with fixed low rates are grunting it out as the strong people do here in South Jersey, while awaiting a real estate turn around to secure their future.
To all the self proclaimed wise men who pushed me into 401k's, Stocks, Bonds, Mutual's, Retirement accounts, etc... I never bought any of it. The bottom dropped out! But now I'm seriously considering buying in because buying at the bottom is always a good idea. Good night and God bless America!

Fall Market

2008-10-13T09:26:00.001-07:00

So there is an excess of coverage on the poor economy and this economic bailout bill.... There is a massive election coming up in which a candidate who wins will select some supreme court justices who stay much longer then the president. Amongst all this hoopla of stocks and elections there is still houses sitting on land. My point here is that real estate is tangible. It does not cease to exist if the news about it is really bad. It doesn't matter who is in office, you can still rent a property. When the government makes bad decisions your retirement savings in a home do not get cut in half like my wife's retirement account last week. Real Estate remains the best place for most people to store their money long term. By making higher payements on your monthly loan you can shorten your loan period. By using your home as a retirement account you can save incredible amounts of money by not paying the interest you would have paid on the lent money. By investing in something you control completely you can have piece of mind that corrupt politicians will not be putting thier interests before your investment.
One thing that has changed for the better is the buyers market this fall and winter. It is a great time for buyers to add to their real estate portfolio. A rental property will give you extensive amounts of tax breaks and be an incredible place to use as a savings account while tenants foot the bill.

Margate Condo's

2008-07-27T04:35:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing and I've just began selling condo's near the beach in Margate. At 16 South Washington Avenue in Margate is a four unit building that had a recent condo conversion. The value is tremendous for using it yourself or even as an investor for the market that is "coming back." Offstreet parking, decks, totally renovated, location is sweet. The center piece is a rear house that is all new with granite kitchen and new stainless appliances (what else right?) complete for only 449 on the South Side in Margate. Call in with interest. 609.377.4565

USDA Loans

2008-06-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

There were a bazillion loan programs available just a couple years ago. Now they are disappearing... the programs, and in some cases the entire bank. For sure the greedy loan agents are now out of the market because it's much harder to find a sucker. I've recently been introduced to an amazing USDA loan program that makes Fannie Mae for the birds. It even tops the FHA loans even with the new guidelines. As bank programs are getting tighter and harder to write, the government backed programs are loosening. This is surely the way to go. USDA requires no money down, full documentation, but no assets needed. A credit score and a USDA approved township puts you on your way to one of the greatest programs I've seen in any market. Writting them in EHT and Galloway NJ all the time right now. Works for refinance or primary home purchase. Investor loans... well see you guys in a few years. For now investors must have big money down just like Fannie Mae. Call me for loan specifics.

Jose Canseco is Ducking Me!

2008-05-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

Just for the record I've put in an official request to fight Mr. Canseco at Bernie Robbins Statium on July 12th. It is this bloggers opinion that Mr. Canseco is absolutely dodging me and does not want to catch an old school whopping from this Atlantic City native. No steroids on this end, Mr Canseco I will smash you! Look no further.

Jose Canseco looking for someone to fight in Atlantic City

Baseball star Jose Canseco recently revealed that the mortgage on his home had been foreclosed, and he blamed two costly divorces for his financial woes. Because the dude has to pay the bills, he has turned to celebrity boxing.
Canseco and promoter Damon Feldman are seeking a challenger to fight the Oakland Athletics veteran on July 12 at the Bernie Robbins Stadium in Atlantic City. The chosen opponent will be paid $5,000. Brave souls should e-mail fightcanseco@aol.com. Canseco's opponent will be revealed in this column next week.
No word on whether Canseco, who admitted to having used steroids throughout his baseball career, will be juiced for the fight. Tickets will be available through Center Stage, 800-677-8499.

Credit Crunch comes to an end, Pinnacle ahead!

2008-05-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

The credit crunch is a good thing when it comes to purifying the market.... all the little guys have put the tails between the legs and jumped out... Big boys are pushing big plans, they all know that the down time is the time to plan and get things moving. AC is in the forefront as usual in National Real Estate news. Check out a Wall Street take on it...

Wall Street: Credit crunch will weed out poor casino plans
By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press Writer
May 20, 2008

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The credit crunch that is delaying some casino plans is nearing an end, even though it still may kill some poorly conceived projects, a panel of Wall Street experts said Tuesday. Speaking at the East Coast Gaming Congress, officials with Wall Street firms said credit is still available, although at a higher price. Joel Simkins, senior vice president of Macquarie Securities, was asked to compare the duration of the credit crisis to a baseball game. "I'd say we're in the bottom of the sixth," he said. "i think we're nearing the end of the credit crisis. You have investors starting to come back and look at the sector, and you have vulture investors coming in to look at distressed properties.
"Deals are still getting done, and credit markets are opening back up," he said. In Atlantic City, proposed projects by Pinnacle Entertainment and Revel Entertainment have been affected by credit markets; Pinnacle has said it may abandon its Atlantic City plans if credit markets don't improve within a year or two. Lawrence Klatzkin, managing director of Jefferies & Company, said he thinks both Pinnacle and Revel will ultimately build their Atlantic City projects. John Maxwell, managing director of Merrill Lynch, said credit markets are open now, although at a more expensive price for borrowers. He said the tighter credit has made gambling companies look more closely at their plans. "Maybe a new project in Atlantic City is not at the forefront of that," he said. He also said it will be interesting to see what the Tropicana Casino and Resort sells for in Atlantic City. The property's former owners were stripped of their casino license in December after less than a year of poor performance, and the Tropicana is up for sale. Maxwell and Simkins both predicted it will sell for less than $1 billion. Klatzkin predicted the price will top the $1 billion mark. One potential suitor who has dropped out of the Tropicana sweepstakes is the Mohegan Indian tribe in Connecticut. Mohegan Sun CEO Mitchell Etess said the tribe had been considering a bid several months ago, but decided against it. "The deal just didn't make sense for us," he said. Etess said the Mohegans are still interested in expanding to Atlantic City, and are looking at existing casino-hotel properties. But he said no deal was imminent. Within the next five years, all three panelists predicted even more competition in the East Coast gambling market, including the possibility of casinos or slots parlors in Massachusetts, Maryland and Ohio.

Transformation of Atlantic City

2008-05-17T03:33:00.000-07:00

This sums up what is proposed and in motion here in Atlantic City as far as Casino Real Estate goes. It is this bloggers opinion that the AC economy will go into steriod mode as these places begin to open, making now the time to buy in the county and more specifically on the island before it gets outrageous.

Look out, here comes Atlantic City’s transformation
Billions of dollars, big plans set to make over the aging town
By Liz Benston
Mon, Jan 28, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Courtesy MGM Mirage
MGM Mirage is planning a $5 billion resort with at least 3,000 hotel rooms called CityCenter East.

In 1989, Steve Wynn’s Mirage ushered in a megaresort era marked by a wave of themed and whimsical luxury hotels.
Now, Atlantic City — reeling from competition for penny-pinching slot players — is on the cusp of a sort of salvation, as experts predict a Las Vegas-style transformation of the aging seaside town.
At least three casino operators — each with connections to Wynn and his epic-making Mirage — are pursuing luxury resorts in Atlantic City even as the East Coast gambling mecca is reporting its first annual decline in gaming revenue since the first casino opened there in 1978.
Their confidence, not surprisingly, springs from Las Vegas, which hasn’t always had growth years either.
Strip revenue, when measured year-over year, has fallen three times over the past two decades — in 1996, 2001 and 2002. The largest drop was but 2 percent in 2001, as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 1996, the Asian banking crisis slammed global stock markets and hurt high-roller play on the Strip, resulting in a 1.4 percent decline.
The closest comparison to the trend in Atlantic City is the spread of tribal casinos in California, the Strip’s largest feeder market. And though some consumers may be taking fewer Las Vegas trips as a result, Vegas can’t directly attribute any slowed growth to California casinos. In fact, there’s some evidence that easier access to gambling spurs interest in Las Vegas, which hosts the biggest poker tournaments and offers more eye candy.
With only 11 casinos — and only one of them built in the past 15 years to the luxury standards of the Strip — Atlantic City is far from Las Vegas by any definition.
When Boyd Gaming opened the Borgata resort with MGM Mirage in 2003, the resort soon became the biggest and most profitable revenue generator in Atlantic City, with some of that growth coming at the expense of other casinos in town. The Borgata also is attracting new, more discriminating customers who wouldn’t otherwise travel to Atlantic City.
Though some wonder whether Atlantic City’s proximity to multiple gambling markets will make it hard for the city to rise much beyond its roots as a gambling fix for day trippers, others say the city is primed for Las Vegas-style growth.
Here’s what’s in store for Atlantic City:
• MGM Mirage is planning a $5 billion resort with at least 3,000 hotel rooms called CityCenter East.
• Revel Entertainment, with investment bank Morgan Stanley, is proposing an oceanfront resort with two hotel towers of 1,900 rooms each.
• Pinnacle Gaming, which bought and imploded the old Sands casino in Atlantic City, envisions a major resort there.
All the players have ties to Wynn and his former company, Mirage Resorts.
Pinnacle Chief Executive Dan Lee was Wynn’s chief financial officer at Mirage Resorts, sold to MGM Grand in 2000. Pinnacle’s Kim Townsend, who is leading the Atlantic City development, is another Mirage Resorts grad and was involved in the openings of Mirage and Treasure Island. Revel Entertainment is a new gaming company formed by Kevin DeSanctis, a former Trump Plaza executive who began his career in Las Vegas and was president of casino operations at the Mirage. MGM Mirage inherited the vacant CityCenter land (as well as the land now occupied by the Borgata resort) from Wynn, who sold it in his exit from Mirage Resorts.
There’s already evidence that the Borgata’s nongaming attractions are motivating customers to stay longer than one night — which might otherwise be enough for a quick gambling fix.
On the Strip, where nongaming spending is nearly 50 percent of the total, fancy dinners, expensive baubles and elaborate entertainment are helping offset only moderate growth in gambling revenue. In Atlantic City, nearly 80 percent of revenue comes from gambling, though that number is as low as 65 percent at the Borgata.
The best indicator of Atlantic City’s development as a resort destination, experts say, comes down to a hard-and-fast number.
New Jersey’s gaming tax, which comes to about 9 percent with state and local assessments, is the second-lowest in the nation next to Nevada’s rate of 6.75 percent. And if the Nevada teachers union gets its way, a statewide petition could raise Nevada’s towline gaming tax to 9.75 percent — putting New Jersey in the financial lead, so to speak.
With the Strip becoming saturated and riverboat markets across the country becoming a more competitive place to make a buck, Atlantic City — which sits next to one of the largest and most dense affluent populations in the country, with New York on one side and Philadelphia on another — has become more appealing for long-term investors, analysts say.
The Borgata experiment, coupled with New Jersey’s low tax rate, is paving the way Atlantic City’s first wave of multibillion-dollar resorts.
“The future of Atlantic City is its evolution into a Las Vegas-style multi-entertainment destination resort,” said Harvey Perkins, an analyst with Spectrum Gaming Group, a global gaming consultant based in Atlantic City. “Just as the tens of thousands of slot machines (in California) have had no material impact to Las Vegas, if Atlantic City is properly capitalized due to its low tax rate, the same should prove to be true here.”
Spectrum recently projected that Atlantic City’s gaming revenue will rise to $5 billion, a 2 percent increase from 2007 yet less than the record-setting $5.2 billion generated there in 2006. (Gaming revenue fell 5.3 percent at the city’s 11 casinos for the first 11 months of 2007.)
A more upscale future presents a double-edged sword for Atlantic City’s long-standing properties.
As in Las Vegas, some of Atlantic City’s older casinos will lose some business as customers trade up to more expensive resorts. And yet, several older properties on the Las Vegas Strip have benefited from the new competition, reporting some of their most prosperous periods in recent years as customers who couldn’t afford to stay at the priciest properties stayed elsewhere.
“There were many skeptics when Borgata was built who said customers wouldn’t spend more or necessarily appreciate higher-end surroundings,” MGM Mirage President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Murren said. “All properties with the exception of Borgata compete mostly on the deal.”
But Atlantic City is a competitive market like Las Vegas in that it doesn’t issue a specific number of licenses and “rewards investment” while penalizing the opposite, Murren said.
CityCenter East, he said, “is another leap of faith — that we can transform the market with a significantly larger investment.”
Atlantic City will add more than 2,000 hotel rooms next year, including 800 premium rooms at the Borgata’s upcoming Water Club addition, offsetting some of that new competition from Pennsylvania.
The city will eventually offer a critical mass of attractions to lure customers from Pennsylvania’s more conveniently located casinos, Perkins said.

Housing Slump? Not in Atlantic City!

2008-05-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

As we all know it is very common for the press to print negative things about the housing market. Also it is as easy to hear negative news on the television as it is to hit traffic on memorial day weekend. So this post shows true hope because the Press has finally published a positive note backed with factual numbers. As you all know the AC area is a niche market backed by a booming Casino industry and a long overdue price correction (upwards!) by being the lowest priced beach front island in the state. Sales are actually up here and in the state from a year ago. And no I'm not just optimistic, I'm extremely busy with buyers and sellers right now. I'm going to expect the same cowardly regret from most acquaintances as I saw after I urged them to buy 5 years ago before the last boom in the buyers pocket. This will be the last affordable pocket to buy real estate on this Island. You have from now till about February of 09. Sounds far away but it's only 9 months away. That is my conservative prediction of when people will again begin to kick themselves in the behind. Stop being behind the curve and come in front of it.

Housing slump? Not in Atlantic City area
By KEVIN POST Business Editor, 609-272-7250
Published: Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Atlantic City area is in a sweet spot of the nation's real estate market, according to first-quarter price and sales figures released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.
Median home prices increased 4.8 percent in the Atlantic County market from the first quarter of last year, better than the 3.2 percent price rise for the Northeast region. Meanwhile, home prices dropped 7.7 percent nationwide for the period.
And New Jersey was one of just three states (besides Indiana and Alaska) where home sales increased from the year-ago period, rising 4 percent to 169,600 units sold in the first quarter. Nationwide, sales fell 22.2 percent and in the Northeast as a whole dropped 23.9 percent.
Lester Argus, president of the Atlantic City & County Board of Realtors, said the figures match what he's seeing in the area.
"All of the Realtors I've talked to are doing a lot more business than they were six months ago," Argus said. "My office (Argus Real Estate in Ventnor) itself is very busy. ... With interest rates as low as they are and prices the way they are, I think it's going to pick up even more."

Bloggers note: Mr Argus runs a very respectable and professional operation in my home town of Ventnor and has some wonderful agents in his office. It's a joy to have fellow companies built on trust and respect on the island.

Summer Rentals

2008-05-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

So it's that time of year again. Mothers day is here, the tomato plants went in the ground today, and the phone won't stop ringing with summer rental seekers. A lot of locals ask why in the world people would pay so much money to live in Margate or Ventnor for just a few months... and I ask them why they pay so much to live here year round?! The bottom line is that not many places can boast such an amazing mixture of dining, shopping, world class beaches, casino, nightlife, architecture, history, and weather as the Jersey Shore in the summer time. While many are getting an early start there are a bunch of late comers always looking to slip in somewhere for August when the weather is just perfect. The official start will be memorial day weekend which is early this year on the 24th and 25th with memorial day it's self being that Monday the 26th. The teachers and tenants with children will trickle in about a month later while the seasoned renters and college renters get a start on settling in. July 4th weekend will an occasion as the fireworks blast off and the bbq's sizzle. Labor Day will wrap things up and all will go back home... to bad because September is the best weather of the year! Labor Day falls on Monday September 1st.
I'll say that this year differs from the rest because of the early day light savings time. Most years the excitement starts to rally when the clocks change and everyone starts to change gears along with the weather. This year with the early change and the every so unpredictable weather it just seems as if something is missing.... None the less the sun will surely shine and the parkway will surely back up for miles so enjoy your Friday drives down and your Sunday trips back and thank you for keeping me in business with your shore homes and summer rentals.

Bottom of the Housing Market

2008-05-09T04:24:00.000-07:00

Finally... some positive news from the Wall Street Journal this week. The Housing Crisis is Over -- Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal, By Cyril Moulle-Berteaux May 6, 2008 The dire headlines coming fast and furious in the financial and popular press suggest that the housing crisis is intensifying. Yet it is very likely that April 2008 will mark the bottom of the U.S. housing market. Yes, the housing market is bottoming right now.How can this be? For starters, a bottom does not mean that prices are about to return to the heady days of 2005. That probably won't happen for another 15 years. It just means that the trend is no longer getting worse, which is the critical factor.Most people forget that the current housing bust is nearly three years old. Home sales peaked in July 2005.New home sales are down a staggering 63% from peak levels of 1.4 million. Housing starts have fallen more than 50%, and, adjusted for population growth, are back to the trough levels of 1982.Furthermore, residential construction is close to 15-year lows at 3.8% of GDP; by the fourth quarter of this year, it will probably hit the lowest level ever. So what's going to stop the housing decline? Very simply, the same thing that caused the bust: affordability.The boom made housing unaffordable for many American families, especially first-time home buyers. During the 1990s and early 2000s, it took 19% of average monthly income to service a conforming mortgage on the average home purchased. By 2005 and 2006, it was absorbing 25% of monthly income. For first time buyers, it went from 29% of income to 37%. That just proved to be too much.Prices got so high that people who intended to actually live in the houses they purchased (as opposed to speculators) stopped buying. This caused the bubble to burst.Since then, house prices have fallen 10%-15%, while incomes have kept growing (albeit more slowly recently) and mortgage rates have come down 70 basis points from their highs. As a result, it now takes 19% of monthly income for the average home buyer, and 31% of monthly income for the first-time home buyer, to purchase a house. In other words, homes on average are back to being as affordable as during the best of times in the 1990s. Numerous households that had been priced out of the market can now afford to get in.The next question is: Even if home sales pick up, how can home prices stop falling with so many houses vacant and unsold? The flip but true answer: because they always do.In the past five major housing market corrections (and there were some big ones, such as in the early 1980s when home sales also fell by 50%-60% and prices fell 12%-15% in real terms), every time home sales bottomed, the pace of house-price declines halved within one or two months.The explanation is that by the time home sales stop declining, inventories of unsold homes have usually already started falling in absolute terms and begin to peak out in "months of supply" terms. That's the case right now: New home inventories peaked at 598,000 homes in July 2006, and stand at 482,000 homes as of the end of March. This inventory is equivalent to 11 months of supply, a 25-year high -- but it is similar to 1974, 1982 and 1991 levels, which saw a subsequent slowing in home-price declines within the next six months.Inventories are declining because construction activity has been falling for such a long time that home completions are now just about undershooting new home sales. In a few months, completions of new homes for sale could be undershooting new home sales by 50,000-100,000 annually.Inventories will drop even faster to 400,000 -- or seven months of supply -- by the end of 2008.This shift in inventories will have a significant impact on prices, although house prices won't stop falling entirely until inventories reach five months of supply sometime in 2009. A five-month supply has historically signaled tightness in the housing market.Many pundits claim that house prices need to fall another 30% to bring them back in line with where they've been historically. This is usually based on an analysis of house prices adjusted for inflation: Real house prices are 30% above their 40-year, inflation-adjusted average, so they must fall 30%. This simplistic analysis is appealing on the surface, but is flawed for a variety of reasons.Most importantly, it neglects the fact that a great majority of Americans buy their houses with mortgages.And if one buys a house with a mortgage, the most important factor in deciding what to pay for the house is how much of one's income is required to be able to make the mortgage payments on the house. Today the rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is 5.7%. Back in 1981, the rate hit 18.5%. Comparing today's house prices to the 1970s or 1980s, when mortgage rates were stratospheric, is misguided and misleading.This is all good news for the broader economy. The housing bust has been subtracting a full percentage point from GDP for almost two years now, which is very large for a sector that represents less than 5% of economic activity.When the rate of house-price declines halves, there will be a wholesale shift in markets' perceptions. All of a sudden, the expected value of the collateral (i.e. houses) for much of the lending that went on for the past decade will change. Right now, when valuing the collateral, market participants including banks are extrapolating the current pace of house price declines for another two to three years; this has a significant impact on the amount of delinquencies, foreclosures and credit losses that lenders are expected to face.More home sales and smaller price declines means fewer homeowners will be underwater on their mortgages. They will thus have less incentive to walk away and opt for foreclosure.A milder house-price decline scenario could lead to increases in the market value of a lot of the securitized mortgages that have been responsible for $300 billion of write-downs in the past year.Even if write-backs do not occur, stabilizing collateral values will have a huge impact on the markets' perception of risk related to housing, the financial system, and the economy.We are of course experiencing a serious housing bust, with serious economic consequences that are still unfolding. The odds are that the reverberations will lead to sub-trend growth for a couple of years.Nonetheless, housing led us into this credit crisis and this recession. It is likely to lead us out. And that process is underway, right now.Mr. Moulle-Berteaux is managing partner of Traxis Partners LP, a hedge fund firm based in New York.

Pinky and the Brain MGM Mirage

2008-05-05T03:52:00.000-07:00

This is an update on the MGM project which in my opinion will stimulate the entire county for a very long period of time. While new Casino projects steal some clients and workers from other casino's they do boast new visitors and an overall increase in housing demands. The timing of the Borgata during the last real estate boom is what made AC real estate such a hot item. While some of the pricing has cooled off there is nothing but positive news on the horizon. As this market turns and the Construction and Hiring for new projects gets underway we sure to see another market boom in the AC area. Be sure to keep your legs flexible so you can kick yourself after missing another buying season. Here is Pinky's take on the MGM:

Many of you know that MGM Grand had purchased land along the Boardwalk in front of the Garden Pier and were going to build a major casino entertainment complex there. Unfortunately, there were several landowners who were holding out for what MGM Grand determined were outrageous sums for their land and they were delaying the deal.

In the midst of the negotiations came the MGM Grand purchase of the Mirage Corporation, the owners of the land in the Huron Redevelopment Tract. Upon completion of the merger, the company changed its name to MGM Mirage. Soon afterwards, MGM Mirage announced that it had dropped the idea of developing the beachfront property and entered into an equal partnership with the Boyd Corporation that give birth to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. MGM Mirage sold off their beachfront property and stated they would eventually build on the remaining 70 acres of the land now called Renaissance Pointe.

Many of those in the local area have stated that they did not believe this columnist's items about MGM Mirage finally coming to Atlantic City. They stated that because MGM Mirage was in the midst of their largest undertaking ever — the $5 billion development of their CityCenter project in Las Vegas — the company wouldn't be involved in an Atlantic City project at this time. Well, this columnist is happy to inform you that, according to a very reliable source (who wishes to remain anonymous), the plans and financing for the CityCenter project have been finalized.
MGM Mirage will release the company's financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2005 prior to the market open on Thursday, Feb. 23. There is the possibility that, with the CityCenter project on its way, MGM Mirage may announce their Atlantic City project during a conference call for analysts and journalist on that date. If not, then they may do so within the next couple of months. Have faith in MGM Mirage's chairman and CEO Terry Lanni; he will bring his outstanding company back to Atlantic City, where he entered the casino industry as the top executive of Caesars' Boardwalk Regency.

Welcome to my Blog

2008-05-05T03:27:00.001-07:00

For all my existing clients and potential clients, this will be a place to visit for up to date and accurate real estate information. My areas of expertise are obviously in Real Estate in Atlantic County, but also in Finance so we can purchase Real Estate properly and responsibly, and in Construction which helps us determine which properties are the best investments. Feel free to request any information from me that you would like to see on this blog.