Atlantic City, NJ – Officials in Atlantic City have voted to help finance construction of a 200,000-square-foot convention center at Harrah’s Atlantic City.
The Casino Reinvestment Development Board (CRDB) agreed to provide $45 million in financing for the $134 million project, which will include 100,000 square feet of meeting and conference space and improve Atlantic City’s capacity for hosting events with large meeting space requirements.
“Atlantic City is under-supplied in its meeting space and what is missing is a mid-sized conference center that would expand our offerings,” said Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority President Jeff Vasser.
Construction is scheduled to begin in January and the new facility will be open for business in July 2014. The entire financing package was still being finalized.
The two-story building will include large windows with bay views. It will also feature the largest ballroom space in the city that is not associated with the Atlantic City Convention Center. “We have a state of the art convention center…and great hotel meeting space,” said Vasser. “This project is another tool in our toolkit to offer planners and drive incremental business to Atlantic City.” The development of the Harrah’s convention center is expected to spur additional development throughout the city and bring increases in revenue and ratables at a time when casino gaming revenues have been steadily declining and new non-gaming attractions and businesses are sought to energize the market.
The CRDB announcement came a few days prior to the grand opening of an expansion of the terminals at the city’s airport. The new space is set up to handle international flight arrivals for the first time. The vast majority of visitors arrive in Atlantic City by means other than air, but city officials called the expansion a first step toward attracting more meetings business.
Reach Jeff Vasser at (609) 449-2031 or jvasser@accva.com
