TRENTON -- Just because a Hard Rock casino is now coming to Atlantic City doesn't mean the company is giving up hope of building one in north Jersey, too. 

Whether they'll ever be allowed to is another story.

Hard Rock International CEO Jim Allen told the Associated Press on Thursday that the company is still committed to a proposal to build a $1 billion casino at the Meadowlands Racetrack -- a plan that would require voters to change the state constitution first.

"We are 100 percent still on board to do that project at the Meadowlands," Allen, a New Jersey native, told the wire service. 

The comments came a day after news broke that Hard Rock has paired with two New Jersey developers to invest $300 million to buy, renovate, rebrand, and reopen the shuttered Taj Mahal on the boardwalk in Atlantic City -- a project officials and industry experts are praising as good news for the financially struggling seaside gambling town.

The new casino, to be decorated with Hard Rock's signature music theme, is expected to open next year. 

Are Atlantic City's worst days over? 

The company has long proposed a casino 125 miles north of Atlantic City at the racetrack in the Meadowlands in an effort to draw gamblers from the northern part of the Garden State and New York City. 

Hard Rock partnered with track owner Jeff Gural to propose the hotel and gambling hall. 

But New Jersey's constitution allows casinos to exist only in Atlantic City. The state's voters would have to approve any expansion.

Last November, they overwhelmingly shot down a referendum that would have allowed two casinos in the northern part of the state. The ballot question fell, 80 to 20 percent.

Though locations weren't specified, it was widely believed that the Meadowlands would be one, with Jersey City the other.

A similar ballot question cannot be proposed until 2018.  

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said it's unlikely another referendum will ever get before voters because the numbers were so "lopsided."

"I don't see it," Sweeney said. "But stranger things have happened."

Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-Essex), a co-sponsor of last year's failed referendum, said he could see the issue being "resurrected in the future." He said part of the reason is because it's still uncertain whether the Hard Rock will lure more gamblers to Atlantic City or siphon too much business away from the city's other casinos. 

"I think it's a matter of time," Caputo said of north Jersey casinos. "We'll see what happens when they open in 2018 in Atlantic City."

Gural told the AP that Hard Rock's purchase of the Taj could help. 

"I am sure the politicians and local leaders are appreciative that Hard Rock stepped up to buy (the Taj) and reopen it as opposed to leaving it closed or tearing it down," Gural said. 

Allen said Hard Rock envisions cross-marketing not only the Atlantic City and Meadowlands casinos, but also with the company's properties around the world. 

Brent Johnson may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.