Chinese builder signed to complete A.C. casino

The developer behind the Revel Casino in Atlantic City is turning to a Chinese construction firm to help complete the project by summer 2011.

China State Construction Engineering Corp. has signed a $1.7 billion agreement with New York's Tishman Construction Corp. and casino builder Revel Entertainment Group L.L.C. of Atlantic City to finish the $2.5 billion megacasino planned next to Showboat on the Boardwalk.

A filing was made yesterday by China State Construction, China's biggest property conglomerate, to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, confirming the deal.

Revel president and chief executive Kevin DeSanctis said earlier this week in an interview that his team had plans to reenter the credit markets next month to seek the final $1 billion in loans needed to complete the delayed project.

"This is not about financing.. . . It's about a construction management agreement," DeSanctis said yesterday about the deal with the state-owned construction arm of the Chinese government.

He said he would still be seeking the $1 billion in financing.

The 53-story Revel structure was just topped off two weeks ago, but all interior work on the casino - including its restaurants, nightclubs, and retail shops - came to a halt in late January when credit dried up.

DeSanctis said the casino would open 16 months from the point crews begin work on the interiors. Yesterday's filing stated that it would likely be completed in July 2011.

If it meets that timetable, Revel will achieve what three other planned super casinos for the seaside resort could not. A $1.5 billion gambling palace on land where the former Sands Hotel Casino stood by Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas was shelved indefinitely because of the credit crisis.

Two other projects followed suit: a $5 billion casino resort by MGM Mirage Inc. next to the Borgata in the city's Marina District, and a $1 billion project on the southern end of the Boardwalk by a partnership between former casino executive Wallace Barr and real estate developer Curtis Bashaw.

Not surprisingly, American gambling companies turning to foreign governments to complete massive projects has become more common.

"The concept of going to sovereign wealth funds for financing is not unusual," DeSanctis said. "In today's business world, it is not only important to partner with firms that are highly respected for their business acumen, but also for their global footprint."

MGM Mirage has had a partnership with the Dubai government to cofinance the $8 billion CityCenter casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The project, which features several condominium towers and hotels, opens in early December.