Resorts Atlantic City wants lenders to be owners

ATLANTIC CITY - One of the city's smallest and more financially strapped casinos is asking permission from state regulators to transfer ownership of the property to its lenders.

Resorts Casino Hotel filed a formal petition with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission yesterday seeking the transfer after months of failing to make its mortgage payment. Its last payment was in October.

Resorts representative Alan Marcus confirmed the request but declined further comment. The state gaming commission will consider the petition during a hearing later this month.

"If approved, this would be the first time that ownership of a casino hotel would change hands in this fashion," commission spokesman Daniel Heneghan said.

Resorts' predicament is yet another example of how the economy and regional slots competition have battered the nation's No. 2 gambling mecca - and how the smaller and older casinos that lack the scale and databases of the bigger gambling halls here are struggling mightily.

Resorts - Atlantic City's first casino, which opened May 26, 1978 - is down 22 percent year-to-date in total gambling revenue from the same period a year ago. It was the fourth-highest decline. The Atlantic City Hilton, the city's smallest gambling floor by square footage, reported a 25 percent decline; Trump Plaza Hotel Casino, which debuted in May 1984, is 23.7 percent down from a year ago. Trump Marina, which opened June 19, 1985, had a 22.1 percent drop.

Total gambling revenue in Atlantic City was down nearly 14 percent in June, and almost 13 percent in July, during what is traditionally its peak season.

Resorts has been trying to fend off a takeover by its lead lender - Column Financial Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse - all year.

In its request Jan. 22 to take over the casino, Column said it wanted to establish a bank account, overseen by loan agent Trimont Real Estate Services Inc., as a way to monitor the casino's expenditures and deposits.

In March, state regulators ruled that Column could begin foreclosure proceedings, but the casino's owner - Resorts International Holdings L.L.C., which also owns the Atlantic City Hilton - would maintain control over its bank accounts.

After the ruling, Nick Ribis, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Resorts International, said he was determined to avoid filing for bankruptcy and, instead, to seek a deal with the lenders.

"We are trying to work this out so the operation will continue to move forward at a time when we are in terrible [financial] distress," he said then.

At least one longtime Resorts patron, Diane George, 55, of Wynnefield Heights, does not want the casino to suffer the same fate as the tiny Sands Hotel Casino, which was imploded on Oct. 18, 2007.

George said the smallness of Resorts allowed for great customer service.

"I want it to be there when I come down," said George, as she and her 8-year old granddaughter, Tiarah, strolled the Boardwalk behind Resorts this week. They had three complimentary room nights at Resorts from Tuesday to Thursday.

"The people there, and the workers there, are fabulous," she said. "If you complain about something, they are right on it."

Go to www.philly.com at 11 a.m. Monday to join staff writers Suzette Parmley (The Inquirer) and Chuck Darrow (Daily News)

in a live chat on gambling in the region.

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