Atlantic City hasn’t had much luck this year, but authorities are looking for ways to “stop the bleeding” and help the city recover financially.

The former gambling kingdom just can’t catch a break. By the end of this year, Atlantic City may see its fifth casino sink, causing unemployment rates to go up yet again. As the city is suffering from the closures, authorities are looking for a way to bounce back by completely rebuilding it.

There are a number of closed shops and casinos in the city, but if you think about how hard Atlantic City has had it this year, you’ll be quite pleasantly impressed with the amount of new construction here. Right across from the now-bankrupt Trump Plaza, a Bass Pro outdoor goods store will rise over an entire city block.

According to online gambling news, New Jersey’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority offered land and $12 million in cash to help develop the project which will employ 290 people. Mayor Don Guardian says the city has become too dependent on gambling revenues, but it’s time for a change.

“The city was happy, because it provided decent jobs with benefits and it paid the taxes, but we lost everything else. You lose your whole entrepreneurial spirit,” he said in an interview.

NPR: As Casinos Fold, Stakes Are High For Atlantic City Transformation

Just as Las Vegas did two decades ago, Atlantic City is trying to become less dependent on casino profits and branch out more into entertainment. It’s looking to become a destination for conferences and various events, not just a place where you can gamble.

Caesars Entertainment said it took nine million pounds of steel to build the structure of the new Waterfront Conference Center in Atlantic City, which has received substantial backing from the developer and from the casino reinvestment authority. Rick Mazer, regional president of Caesars Entertainment said: “This is the business that I think will evolve and regrow Atlantic City.”

However, some experts are skeptical of the project’s potential to succeed. Oliver Cooke, an economist at nearby Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, has his doubts. “You simply are not going to consume your way out of the morass that you’re in,” he explained. “Doing things like building more retail, building more convention centers, has a very, very limited upside.”

Meanwhile, authorities are talking about reselling, reopening and repurposing some casinos. Just last week, Stockton College announced it was going to buy the old Showboat property and The Revel’s new owners are allegedly planning to make a new investment and reopen the venue.

But Atlantic City needs more than just commercial projects. Mayor Don Guardian hopes to see new residents move in and rebuild the city. “Then we’ve gotta work on our school system,” he continues. “But I gotta fix the city first, find jobs, get taxes, reduce cost of government, make the place pretty, and then we’ll work on the schools. I like the challenge.”

Washington Times: Taxes, schools, casinos key to Christie AC plan

Atlantic City officials are trying to come up with ways to get the economy up and running again. Governor Chris Christie has commissioned a plan calling for more predictable taxes for casinos, temporarily freezing taxes on non-gambling property and halting payments on employee pension plans, as well as offering more support for schools that reduce costs.

The commission appointed to study Atlantic City’s future prospects has released a set of recommendations, but the governor hasn’t committed himself to anything yet. According to the commission, the city should have an emergency manager holding “extraordinary supervisory powers” over expenses and taxes.

Experts added that Atlantic City should form a public-private development corporation, similar to the one that helped New Brunswick. An essential part of the plan is property tax reform.

“Extraordinary state and local support is required in the transition phase of the Atlantic City revitalization strategy focusing on immediate activities with a high probability of success, including balancing the municipal and school cost structure toward ‘new normal,’” panel Chairman Jon Hanson wrote.

The report said: “High effective rates and a rapidly declining tax base have created an immense financial burden for residents, local businesses and the casino industry,” the report read. The “entire Atlantic City gaming industry is at risk as each incremental casino closure results in a greater tax increase than revenue increase for the surviving casinos.”

If freed from making pension payments for three years, the city could save up to $71.1 million, while in the same time reducing the need to borrow money. The plan proposes regionalizing the police and fire departments, thus cutting costs by $25 million a year.

The $30 million used by the Atlantic City Alliance to promote the city should be redirected to the new development corporation, ACDevCo, the commission recommended.

Reuters: New Jersey college buys Atlantic City’s closed Showboat casino

The shuttered Showboat Atlantic City gambling resort formerly operated by Caesars Entertainment could be bought by a college in southern New Jersey. The Richard Stockton College wants to transform the 1.4 million square foot property completely, by turning it into a campus.

The building sits on 28 beachfront acres and holds 1,329 hotel rooms. The deal is subject to due diligence checks, but the terms of the contract were not disclosed yet.

Stockton president Herman Saatkamp said: “Our intent is to engage in a project that enhances Stockton’s educational growth, offerings and cost-containment while at the same time brings new educational opportunities to Atlantic City.”

Although the casino resort was still making profit, Caesars closed it in August. The venues was reportedly sacrificed in an attempt to consolidate the city’s deteriorating gaming market.

Caesars CEO Gary Loveman is hopeful that the new agreement could help steer the local economy in a new direction. “The transformation and revitalization of Atlantic City requires the addition of a diverse set of reasons for people to come visit,” he told reporters.

In 2010, Stockton College bought the Seaview Resort in Galloway Township for $20 million. Part of the property is used to house students and train them in hospitality.

Atlantic City hasn’t had much luck this year, but authorities are looking for ways to “stop the bleeding” and help the city recover financially.

The former gambling kingdom just can’t catch a break. By the end of this year, Atlantic City may see its fifth casino sink, causing unemployment rates to go up yet again. As the city is suffering from the closures, authorities are looking for a way to bounce back by completely rebuilding it.

There are a number of closed shops and casinos in the city, but if you think about how hard Atlantic City has had it this year, you’ll be quite pleasantly impressed with the amount of new construction here. Right across from the now-bankrupt Trump Plaza, a Bass Pro outdoor goods store will rise over an entire city block.

According to online gambling news, New Jersey’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority offered land and $12 million in cash to help develop the project which will employ 290 people. Mayor Don Guardian says the city has become too dependent on gambling revenues, but it’s time for a change.

“The city was happy, because it provided decent jobs with benefits and it paid the taxes, but we lost everything else. You lose your whole entrepreneurial spirit,” he said in an interview.

NPR: As Casinos Fold, Stakes Are High For Atlantic City Transformation

Just as Las Vegas did two decades ago, Atlantic City is trying to become less dependent on casino profits and branch out more into entertainment. It’s looking to become a destination for conferences and various events, not just a place where you can gamble.

Caesars Entertainment said it took nine million pounds of steel to build the structure of the new Waterfront Conference Center in Atlantic City, which has received substantial backing from the developer and from the casino reinvestment authority. Rick Mazer, regional president of Caesars Entertainment said: “This is the business that I think will evolve and regrow Atlantic City.”

However, some experts are skeptical of the project’s potential to succeed. Oliver Cooke, an economist at nearby Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, has his doubts. “You simply are not going to consume your way out of the morass that you’re in,” he explained. “Doing things like building more retail, building more convention centers, has a very, very limited upside.”

Meanwhile, authorities are talking about reselling, reopening and repurposing some casinos. Just last week, Stockton College announced it was going to buy the old Showboat property and The Revel’s new owners are allegedly planning to make a new investment and reopen the venue.

But Atlantic City needs more than just commercial projects. Mayor Don Guardian hopes to see new residents move in and rebuild the city. “Then we’ve gotta work on our school system,” he continues. “But I gotta fix the city first, find jobs, get taxes, reduce cost of government, make the place pretty, and then we’ll work on the schools. I like the challenge.”

Washington Times: Taxes, schools, casinos key to Christie AC plan

Atlantic City officials are trying to come up with ways to get the economy up and running again. Governor Chris Christie has commissioned a plan calling for more predictable taxes for casinos, temporarily freezing taxes on non-gambling property and halting payments on employee pension plans, as well as offering more support for schools that reduce costs.

The commission appointed to study Atlantic City’s future prospects has released a set of recommendations, but the governor hasn’t committed himself to anything yet. According to the commission, the city should have an emergency manager holding “extraordinary supervisory powers” over expenses and taxes.

Experts added that Atlantic City should form a public-private development corporation, similar to the one that helped New Brunswick. An essential part of the plan is property tax reform.

“Extraordinary state and local support is required in the transition phase of the Atlantic City revitalization strategy focusing on immediate activities with a high probability of success, including balancing the municipal and school cost structure toward ‘new normal,’” panel Chairman Jon Hanson wrote.

The report said: “High effective rates and a rapidly declining tax base have created an immense financial burden for residents, local businesses and the casino industry,” the report read. The “entire Atlantic City gaming industry is at risk as each incremental casino closure results in a greater tax increase than revenue increase for the surviving casinos.”

If freed from making pension payments for three years, the city could save up to $71.1 million, while in the same time reducing the need to borrow money. The plan proposes regionalizing the police and fire departments, thus cutting costs by $25 million a year.

The $30 million used by the Atlantic City Alliance to promote the city should be redirected to the new development corporation, ACDevCo, the commission recommended.

Reuters: New Jersey college buys Atlantic City’s closed Showboat casino

The shuttered Showboat Atlantic City gambling resort formerly operated by Caesars Entertainment could be bought by a college in southern New Jersey. The Richard Stockton College wants to transform the 1.4 million square foot property completely, by turning it into a campus.

The building sits on 28 beachfront acres and holds 1,329 hotel rooms. The deal is subject to due diligence checks, but the terms of the contract were not disclosed yet.

Stockton president Herman Saatkamp said: “Our intent is to engage in a project that enhances Stockton’s educational growth, offerings and cost-containment while at the same time brings new educational opportunities to Atlantic City.”

Although the casino resort was still making profit, Caesars closed it in August. The venues was reportedly sacrificed in an attempt to consolidate the city’s deteriorating gaming market.

Caesars CEO Gary Loveman is hopeful that the new agreement could help steer the local economy in a new direction. “The transformation and revitalization of Atlantic City requires the addition of a diverse set of reasons for people to come visit,” he told reporters.

In 2010, Stockton College bought the Seaview Resort in Galloway Township for $20 million. Part of the property is used to house students and train them in hospitality.

Japan is getting closer and closer to that critical point where casino developers will lose their patience and turn their backs on any investment opportunity in the country.

Since experts estimated that Japan has the potential to become Asia’s second largest casino market, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration has been pushing for a change in Japanese gambling laws to open the door to major casino developers before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. With the way things are going, it looks like the big dream is not going to happen anytime soon.

For Japan, it’s not a matter of “sooner or later”. If investors don’t have sufficient time to make their plans, obtain approval and start building, the effort will not be worth it. Having a favorable regulatory system as soon as possible was crucial for the success of the country’s gambling market. It’s becoming increasingly unlikely that everything will be ready in time for the Olympics.

Reuters: Costs, politics erode chances for a Tokyo casino by 2020

Japanese casino supporters are starting to panic as plans to change the country’s gambling legislation don’t seem to be coming together. As time passes and authorities are still undecided whether to approve the new casino bill, plans to open the first casino in Tokyo before the 2020 Olympics are becoming increasingly unlikely.

Even though Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly stated that legalizing casino games is one of his main objectives, recent gambling news say building costs are skyrocketing, and the city government is not treating casino development as an economic priority anymore.

For months, casino companies have courted the governments of Tokyo and Osaka, hoping that they will convince them to open the market. Analysts have touted Japan as one of the world’s biggest untapped markets for gambling, but authorities are still undecided.

Major casino operators like Las Vegas Sands, Genting Singapore, MGM Resorts and Melco Crown Entertainment have proposed billion-dollar plans for the area, in order to position themselves as potential candidates for a license, should the casino bill be approved.

The parliament just began its autumn session, and the casino bill should be debated. Supporters of the idea are hoping that politicians will make a decision, giving the administration enough time to approve the bill and start making plans by 2015. But costs have become an issue and the Tokyo government is considering scaling back its plans for the Olympics.

Satoshi Okabe, a senior manager at a project being developed by Dentsu, said: “The reality is that preparations for the Olympics are going to be pretty challenging. Casinos are secondary. Building costs are going to spike and foreign casino operators are going to find investment returns inefficient.”

Meanwhile, Osaka is making progress with its plans for a casino and Caesars Entertainment is still interested. “We are actively in talks with potential Japanese partners about an Osaka project,” said Steve Tight, president for international development for Caesars.

Forbes: Japan Forms Casino Task Force To Boost Flagging Momentum

At the end of August, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government announced that it was going to create a task force help speed up preparations for casinos in Japan. Decision-makers have postponed the issue for a while now, but the Abe administration is hoping the task force will revive momentum for the resorts to be open in time for the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo.

Some major gaming companies said they were willing to spend as much as $5 billion or more to build integrated resorts in the country’s largest cities, but financial experts doubt that the Japanese market is worth that level of investment.

The casino legalization bill was introduced in December 2013, but the Diet didn’t include it in its June voting session. The issue was brought up for debate just a few days before the session closed, so there is still hope that it might come up again during the special session held in autumn.

A report released by Morgan Stanley says Japan is facing many issues in its ambitions to build integrated casino resorts. Analysts Praveen Choudhary, Thomas Allen and Alex Poon have concluded that the country’s gambling market may not be as profitable as casino developers are hoping.

GamingZion: Major Casino Developers Eager to Join the $40 Billion Japanese Casino Market

Experts agree that a casino industry in Japan could potentially generate a yearly profit of $40 billion. The news has convinced the world’s largest casino developers that they must have a share of that juicy revenue, so developers like Melco Crown Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts and Caesar’s Entertainment Group have all pledged to invest billions of dollars.

Melco CEO Lawrence Ho said the company was willing to spend as much as $5 billion on a new investment in Japan, should the new law pass. The developer sees it as the perfect opportunity to expand outside of Macau.

Las Vegas Sands, Wynn and MGM are also interested in the Japanese casino market, and Caesars Entertainment has already presented its plans for a $5 billion resort, as Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman said the company “will have no trouble raising the finance for a world-class facility in Tokyo.”

Japan is getting closer and closer to that critical point where casino developers will lose their patience and turn their backs on any investment opportunity in the country.

Since experts estimated that Japan has the potential to become Asia’s second largest casino market, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration has been pushing for a change in Japanese gambling laws to open the door to major casino developers before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. With the way things are going, it looks like the big dream is not going to happen anytime soon.

For Japan, it’s not a matter of “sooner or later”. If investors don’t have sufficient time to make their plans, obtain approval and start building, the effort will not be worth it. Having a favorable regulatory system as soon as possible was crucial for the success of the country’s gambling market. It’s becoming increasingly unlikely that everything will be ready in time for the Olympics.

Reuters: Costs, politics erode chances for a Tokyo casino by 2020

Japanese casino supporters are starting to panic as plans to change the country’s gambling legislation don’t seem to be coming together. As time passes and authorities are still undecided whether to approve the new casino bill, plans to open the first casino in Tokyo before the 2020 Olympics are becoming increasingly unlikely.

Even though Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly stated that legalizing casino games is one of his main objectives, recent gambling news say building costs are skyrocketing, and the city government is not treating casino development as an economic priority anymore.

For months, casino companies have courted the governments of Tokyo and Osaka, hoping that they will convince them to open the market. Analysts have touted Japan as one of the world’s biggest untapped markets for gambling, but authorities are still undecided.

Major casino operators like Las Vegas Sands, Genting Singapore, MGM Resorts and Melco Crown Entertainment have proposed billion-dollar plans for the area, in order to position themselves as potential candidates for a license, should the casino bill be approved.

The parliament just began its autumn session, and the casino bill should be debated. Supporters of the idea are hoping that politicians will make a decision, giving the administration enough time to approve the bill and start making plans by 2015. But costs have become an issue and the Tokyo government is considering scaling back its plans for the Olympics.

Satoshi Okabe, a senior manager at a project being developed by Dentsu, said: “The reality is that preparations for the Olympics are going to be pretty challenging. Casinos are secondary. Building costs are going to spike and foreign casino operators are going to find investment returns inefficient.”

Meanwhile, Osaka is making progress with its plans for a casino and Caesars Entertainment is still interested. “We are actively in talks with potential Japanese partners about an Osaka project,” said Steve Tight, president for international development for Caesars.

Forbes: Japan Forms Casino Task Force To Boost Flagging Momentum

At the end of August, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government announced that it was going to create a task force help speed up preparations for casinos in Japan. Decision-makers have postponed the issue for a while now, but the Abe administration is hoping the task force will revive momentum for the resorts to be open in time for the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo.

Some major gaming companies said they were willing to spend as much as $5 billion or more to build integrated resorts in the country’s largest cities, but financial experts doubt that the Japanese market is worth that level of investment.

The casino legalization bill was introduced in December 2013, but the Diet didn’t include it in its June voting session. The issue was brought up for debate just a few days before the session closed, so there is still hope that it might come up again during the special session held in autumn.

A report released by Morgan Stanley says Japan is facing many issues in its ambitions to build integrated casino resorts. Analysts Praveen Choudhary, Thomas Allen and Alex Poon have concluded that the country’s gambling market may not be as profitable as casino developers are hoping.

GamingZion: Major Casino Developers Eager to Join the $40 Billion Japanese Casino Market

Experts agree that a casino industry in Japan could potentially generate a yearly profit of $40 billion. The news has convinced the world’s largest casino developers that they must have a share of that juicy revenue, so developers like Melco Crown Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts and Caesar’s Entertainment Group have all pledged to invest billions of dollars.

Melco CEO Lawrence Ho said the company was willing to spend as much as $5 billion on a new investment in Japan, should the new law pass. The developer sees it as the perfect opportunity to expand outside of Macau.

Las Vegas Sands, Wynn and MGM are also interested in the Japanese casino market, and Caesars Entertainment has already presented its plans for a $5 billion resort, as Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman said the company “will have no trouble raising the finance for a world-class facility in Tokyo.”