ATLANTIC CITY — The gleaming $2.4 billion Revel Casino Hotel began shutting down today, leaving many of its workers wondering what comes next.
Atlantic City’s newest entry into the troubled casino market is slated to close early Tuesday morning.
“It’s a little bit of a shock,” said Mark Hubbard, a server at Revel’s SkyCafe, after his coworkers finished snapping a good-bye group photo at the end of their last breakfast shift Sunday. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years. I’ve been laid off, but never because of a casino closing.”
He said he wasn’t sure what he’d do next. Neither was Lori Bacum, a massage therapist at Exhale, Revel’s high-end spa.
“It’s a tragedy,” she said. “There were some warnings, but none of us thought it would happen. We felt so safe, because this was the place that was going to take (the city) to a new level.”
Revel opened in 2012, and cut a striking figure looming over the city’s fabled boardwalk, but never found profitability, even with tax incentives from the state championed by Gov. Chris Christie. The casino’s owners have not ruled out selling the facility to a buyer, but none were found during a recent bankruptcy auction.
Revel's closing marks the third casino shut down this year, and the second this week. The Atlantic Club closed in January, and Showboat closed its doors Sunday. A fourth facility, Trump Plaza, is slated to close Sept. 16.
Industry analysts say the closures are a sign that Atlantic City's gaming market is readjusting to the new reality of East Coast gaming, as facilities open in other states and lawmakers look to expand casino gambling to northern New Jersey.
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