Colony Capital LLC will hand over the deed to Resorts Atlantic City, New Jersey's oldest casino, to lenders led by Credit Suisse Group after missing loan payments since November.
Under an arrangement proposed to New Jersey gaming regulators, Resorts owners led by Colony Capital will give the deed to Credit Suisse's Column Financial in lieu of foreclosure, after missing payments on a $360 million mortgage.
Resorts opened in 1978, becoming the first U.S. casino outside of Nevada. Resorts International Hotel Inc., a company co-owned and controlled by Nicholas Ribis, will continue to operate the property, according to documents released Friday by the state's Casino Control Commission. In March, the commission said Column could foreclose or take the deed, subject to licensing.
Ribis declined to comment, as did Owen Blicksilver, a spokesman for Colony Capital.
Column Financial, Credit Suisse's commercial real estate lender, wants to avoid applying for a full casino license and is seeking commission approval later this month for a lesser, nongambling license, the documents show.
Gambling revenue at the New Jersey seaside resort, the second-biggest U.S. casino center, has fallen 15% this year through July. That's after dropping 7.6% in 2008, Atlantic City's worst annual decline.
