Harrah’s Atlantic City Announces $56M Renovation, Competition Spurring Investments

Harrah’s Atlantic City Announces $56M Renovation, Competition Spurring Investments.

Costfoto / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

Harrah s Resort in Atlantic City is set to undergo a major renovation, as parent company Caesars Entertainment revealed this week that it will spend $56 million to upgrade all 507 guestrooms and suites in its Harbour Tower, the property s original hotel structure that opened in 1980.

Harrah's Atlantic City casino revenueHarrah s is upgrading 507 of its rooms in hopes of reversing a downward trend in gaming revenue the property is experiencing in 2018. (Image: Mel Evans/AP)

The first casino resort in Atlantic City not on the Boardwalk, the Marina District hotel renovation will include a refreshed design, plus better high-speed internet access, charging stations, and 55 LED televisions.

At $56 million, the renovation equates to more than $110,000 per occupancy. The Harbour Tower is being renamed the Coastal Tower, and is expected to be ready by next summer.

With the Bayview, Waterfront, Atrium, and Marina towers, Harrah s has more than 2,500 total rooms. The casino floor measures 160,000 square feet.

Atlantic City Investments

The June openings of Hard Rock and Ocean Resort mean there are for market share. The two new properties have fueled a gross gambling revenue (GGR) growth, but largely at the expense of the other resorts.

Land-based, online, and sports betting GGR totals more than $2.1 billion through September, which is a 5.4 percent year-over-year increase. But six casinos, one being Harrah s, has seen GGR decline in 2018.

Harrah s casino floor has won $260 million this year, down 5.7 percent. Only the Golden Nugget has a positive total GGR performance of the previous seven operators, and that s due to its strong online casino, which has become the dominant interactive platform in New Jersey.

The more than $1 billion invested by Hard Rock and Ocean Resort to reopen the shuttered Boardwalk casinos will force other operators to make enhancements. That s according to Brian Tyrrell, a hospitality and tourism management professor at Stockton University.

That puts pressure on the existing businesses to upgrade their product, Tyrrell explained this fall. I m very optimistic.

The Harrah s renovation budget is part of Caesars Entertainment s $250 million investment into its three Atlantic City properties. Along with Harrah s, it operates Caesars and Bally s.

Gambles Revealed Next Year

The 12 months ahead are a critical time for Atlantic City s nine casinos. For the town to support the expanded market, the resorts need to attract new visitors, and return old ones.

Rummy Pandit, executive director of Stockton University’s Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality Tourism, said in August that the showed that new revenue was arriving. It needs to last.

The new casinos have added competition and it has been a good thing for visitors,” Casino Control Commission Chair James Plousis added. Market adjustments were expected and will continue as each casino works to attract new customers and build their market share.

Former Bally s executive Wayne Schaffel said recently that if gaming revenue doesn t grow at least 15 percent, somebody s not going to make it.

The biggest land-based GGR loser this year is Caesars, which is down 14 percent. Bally s is next at nine percent, and Borgata third at six percent.

Article Sources
Philippines Casinos and Online Gaming Industry Linked to 42 Kidnappings in 2019 editorial policy.
  1. Elys Game Technology Stock Surges After Company Wins DC Sports Betting License

Compare Accounts
×
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa Enters Concussion Protocol… Again
Provider
Name
Description
Red-Hot Brooklyn Nets Offer Value to Short-Term and Long-Term Gamblers  Atlantic City Casino Profits Plunge 15 Percent in 2018, Increased Competition Blamed  Big Bets on Conor McGregor Tighten Odds Against Floyd Mayweather, Fight Coming to Theater Near You  Wynn Resorts’ Strong Performance Not Strong Enough for Investors  Wynn Macau Selling $1 Billion Worth of Bonds to Reduce Higher Rate Debt  Massive Wildfire Forces Evacuations at Smoke-Shrouded Lake Tahoe  Harrah’s New Orleans Enhancements to Accelerate in Early 2023  UK Lottery Players Pocketed More Than $5.4B in 2022  Elys Game Technology Says Markets Aren’t Giving Stock Adequate Appreciation  Virginia Cavaliers Win NCAA Men’s Basketball Title One Year After Making History For Wrong Reason