Sands Atlantic City

Sands Casino Hotel

Picture of the former Sands Casino/Hotel
Location Atlantic City, New Jersey
Address S Indiana Avenue & Brighton Park
Opening date August 13, 1980
Closing date November 11, 2006
Theme Vegas-Style
Number of rooms 532
Signature attractions Copa Room
Casino type Land-based
Previous names Brighton Hotel & Casino

The Sands Casino Hotel was a casino and hotel that operated from August 13, 1980 until November 11, 2006 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was formerly known as the Brighton Hotel & Casino. It consisted of a 21-story hotel tower with 532 rooms and a 5-story podium housing the 57,045 ft (17,387 m) casino and various other amenities. It was adjacent to Claridge Atlantic City and its parking garage was adjacent to the Madison Hotel.

History

Construction and opening

The first Brighton Hotel (originally named the Brighton Cottage) was opened in 1876 on the site that would eventually become the Sands.[1][2] It was demolished in 1959.[3]

The Brighton Hotel & Casino was built at a cost of $70 million[4] by Greate Bay Casino Corporation, controlled by two local businessmen, Eugene Gatti and Arthur Kania. It opened on August 13, 1980.[5][6] The Brighton was the fourth property to open following the 1977 legalization of casinos in Atlantic City, and the first to be built from the ground up, rather than as a renovation of an existing hotel.[7] The developers hoped that the Brighton's quiet atmosphere and small size, about half that of the city's other casino hotels, would prove attractive to high rollers.[1][7] Early marketing featured Bert Parks as a spokesman, and the slogan "Brighton Up".[1]

After less than a month in operation, Holiday Inns agreed to buy the Brighton for $121 million in cash and stock plus assumption of the property's $37 million mortgage.[8][9] Holiday Inns pulled out of the deal a month later.[9] As the Brighton headed into its first winter, the city's low season, it faced severe cash flow problems, with lower monthly revenue than all its competitors.[1]

Pratt era (1981-1998)

The Brighton was rescued in the first months of 1981 by $10 million in financing from Inns of the Americas (a Dallas-based hotel operator, owned by the Pratt brothers) and financiers Burton and Richard Koffman.[10] Inns of the Americas and the Koffmans went on to buy a 60 percent interest in the Brighton from Gatti and Kania for $30 million in May 1981.[4] Inns of the Americas had recently bought the Sands Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, and immediately renamed the Atlantic City property under the well-known Sands name.[11] The property soon became profitable under its new ownership.[12]

The Pratts soon sold the Sands in Las Vegas back to its previous owner,[13] but the Atlantic City property retained the Sands name under a licensing agreement,[14][15] despite no longer having any affiliation with its namesake.

In 1982, arcade game manufacturer Williams Electronics began an effort to take over the Sands, buying Gatti and Kania's shares, and agreeing to buy the Koffmans' shares.[16] A white knight soon appeared, in the form of Drew National Corp., a New York-based conglomerate, which agreed to buy the Koffmans' interest.[17] The deal foundered when Drew's major shareholders, Robert Bass and his brothers, refused to make financial disclosures required by the gaming licensing process.[18] A restructuring was eventually completed in 1985, with the Sands wholly owned by Pratt Hotel Corporation, which in turn was 52%-owned by Pratt's former shareholders, 35% by the Southmark Corporation of Texas, and 10% by Drew's shareholders.[18]

At its peak, the Sands headlined top entertainers, such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Cher, Liza Minnelli, Bob Dylan, Robin Williams, Whitney Houston & Eddie Murphy, among others. However, Sands was soon eclipsed by newer Atlantic City casinos and, at the time of its closing, had become the smallest of the city's 12 casinos.

The Sands joined with the neighboring Claridge Hotel and Casino to build an elevated moving sidewalk, opened in 1988, to bring visitors from the boardwalk to the two properties.[19]

Pratt Hotel announced plans in 1987 to build a sister property called the Sands Boardwalk at the site of the unfinished Penthouse Boardwalk Hotel and Casino, while the existing property would be renamed as the Sands Park.[20] Later reports had the new property's name as the Hollywood Hotel and Casino,[21] or the Sands Hollywood.[22] The plan was killed when Penthouse instead sold the site to Donald Trump in March 1989.[23]

The Sands took over the long vacant Jefferson Hotel, adjacent to its parking garage, in 1989, to be converted into administrative offices.[24]

In the early 1990s, as legalized gambling spread to new states, the Pratts established Hollywood Casino Corp. (HWCC) to develop new casinos under the Hollywood Casino name.[25] At the time of its initial public offering in 1993, HWCC owned an 80 percent stake in Pratt Hotel.[26]

A second-floor gaming area was opened in 1994, with a ribbon-cutting by Governor Christie Whitman.[27] The extra 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2), including a new racebook, gave the Sands the fourth largest casino in Atlantic City.[27]

The Sands announced a new plan in 1994 to rebrand itself as a Hollywood Casino within two years.[28] A video store was opened at the property,[29] along with the film-themed "Epic Buffet", decorated with props from classic movies.[30] The rebranding was never completed.

As the Sands's high debt load and poor cash flow dragged down its parent company, HWCC decided in 1996 to divest itself of the property.[31] At year's end, all of HWCC's stock in Pratt Hotel was distributed to HWCC shareholders, and Pratt Hotel was renamed as Greate Bay Casino Corporation.[32]

Bankruptcy and Icahn era (1998-2006)

In 1998, the Sands filed for bankruptcy protection.[33] While in bankruptcy, it was not required to make its $25 million in annual payments to bondholders, freeing up cash for a minor expansion.[34] The Sands spent $10 million to buy the adjacent Midtown-Bala Hotel, which had separated it from Pacific Avenue, the main thoroughfare running parallel to the boardwalk.[35] The Midtown-Bala was demolished to make way for a new entryway and porte-cochere,[34][36] which were unveiled in June 2000.[37]

Park Place Entertainment and financier Carl Icahn put forth competing plans to take over and reorganize the company.[38] Icahn's plan was selected by the bankruptcy court,[39] and the business was reorganized in September 2000 as the publicly traded GB Holdings Inc., with Icahn owning a 65 percent share.[40] The Claridge also filed for bankruptcy in August 1999,[41] and Icahn fought to gain control of it as well, hoping to combine its operations with those of the Sands, but Park Place instead won ownership of the Claridge and merged it into Bally's.[42][43] Icahn later transferred most of the interest in the Sands to another of his companies, American Real Estate Partners, sending GB Holdings into bankruptcy in September 2005.[44]

The Sands took over the adjacent historic Madison Hotel in 2000 under a lease agreement.[15] By adding the Madison's units to its room count, the Sands was allowed to expand its casino floor by 10,000 square feet (930 m2).[15] The Sands spent $25 million on a renovation of the Madison, completed in 2005, turning the hotel's 230 rooms into 126 suites.[45]

In May 2006, American Real Estate Partners purchased the vacant former site of the Traymore Hotel from Harrah's Entertainment for $61 million.[46] The Traymore site separated the Sands from the boardwalk, which had always hampered the Sands's ability to expand, and reduced its attractiveness to potential buyers.[47] Icahn indicated that he might use the Traymore site for an expansion of the Sands, or might bundle it together with the Sands for sale.[46][47]

In September 2006, Pinnacle Entertainment agreed to buy the Sands and the Traymore site for a total of $250 million, with plans to close and demolish the Sands, and build a larger casino.[47] The Sands closed on November 11, 2006, and the sale to Pinnacle was completed days later.[48]

The building was imploded at 9:37 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on October 18, 2007;[49] the first-ever casino-hotel implosion on the East Coast. It was accompanied by a fireworks show and numerous parties along the boardwalk. Coincidentally, Sands was demolished less than 24 hours after the death of the last surviving member of the Rat Pack, comedian Joey Bishop.

Sands Atlantic City was the last casino in North America to bear the famous Sands moniker until the new Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem opened on May 22, 2009.

Pinnacle canceled its planned casino in 2010,[50] and sold the land in 2013 for $29.5 million to a group of local developers who planned to build a casino or family entertainment attraction.[51]

Facilities

As of 1999, the Sands's buildings had 628,000 square feet (58,300 m2) of floor space on 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) of land, with facilities including:[52]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 George Anastasia (January 26, 1981). "The Brighton: Struggling with bad odds". Philadelphia Inquirer – via NewsBank.
  2. ↑ Martin Paulsson (1996). The Social Anxieties of Progressive Reform: Atlantic City, 1854-1920. NYU Press. p. 25. ISBN 0814766439 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ James D. Ristine (2008). Atlantic City. Arcadia Publishing. p. 56. ISBN 0738557048 – via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 "Casino transfer in Atlantic City set". New York Times. AP. May 9, 1981. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  5. ↑ "New Atlantic City casino is sold to Holiday Inns". New York Times. AP. September 9, 1980.  – via ProQuest (subscription required)
  6. ↑ George Anastasia (January 22, 1981). "Troubled - Brighton secures aid". Philadelphia Inquirer – via NewsBank.
  7. 1 2 Donald Janson (August 17, 1980). "New hotel a symbol for Atlantic City". New York Times.  – via ProQuest (subscription required)
  8. ↑ "New Atlantic City casino is sold to Holiday Inns". New York Times. AP. September 9, 1980.  – via ProQuest (subscription required)
  9. 1 2 "Holiday Inns quits Jersey casino deal". New York Times. AP. October 14, 1980.  – via ProQuest (subscription required)
  10. ↑ George Anastasia (February 10, 1981). "$10 million rescue is readied for Brighton casino". Philadelphia Inquirer – via NewsBank.
  11. ↑ George Anastasia (May 15, 1981). "Troubled Brighton casino changes name to the Sands". Philadelphia Inquirer – via NewsBank.
  12. ↑ Donald Janson (May 2, 1982). "Sands casino set to expand". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  13. ↑ Al Delugach (March 24, 1987). "Sosnoff may add partners in bid to acquire Caesars World". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  14. ↑ Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). GB Holdings, Inc. March 31, 1997. p. 5 – via EDGAR.
  15. 1 2 3 Las Vegas Sands Corp. v. Ace Gaming, LLC, 713 F. Supp. 2d 427 (United States District Court, D. New Jersey May 24, 2010).
  16. ↑ Brian P. Sullivan (January 6, 1983). "Boardwalk battle - Sands Casino, newly in the chips, is the target of takeover struggle". Philadelphia Inquirer – via NewsBank.
  17. ↑ Harry M. Gould, Jr. (December 24, 1982). "The Sands appears to have blocked a takeover bid". Philadelphia Inquirer – via NewsBank.
  18. 1 2 Lisa Iervolino (April 2, 1985). "Drew deck shuffled for casino bid" (PDF). Yonkers Herald Statesman. Retrieved 2014-12-21. Part 2
  19. ↑ David Johnston (June 12, 1988). "Amid acclaim, A.C. unveils moving sidewalk". Philadelphia Inquirer – via NewsBank.
  20. ↑ Donald Janson (November 8, 1987). "Sands is to build a 2d casino hotel in Atlantic City". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  21. ↑ Mike Schurman (March 30, 1988). "Plans unveiled for new casino in Atlantic City". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  22. ↑ "Sands casino rebuffed in a move against Trump". New York Times. AP. September 25, 1988. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  23. ↑ David Johnston (March 21, 1989). "Penthouse sues over A.C. deal". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  24. ↑ Joseph Tanfani (June 8, 1989). "Sands to convert A.C.'s Jefferson to casino offices". Press of Atlantic City – via NewsBank.
  25. ↑ Sammy Fretwell (February 28, 1994). "Texas man betting on big payoffs if S.C. legalizes gambling". The State (Columbia, SC) – via NewsBank.
  26. ↑ Fred Faust (May 29, 1993). "Hot shots: Two of three offerings of gambling stock win big this week". St. Louis Post-Dispatch – via NewsBank.
  27. 1 2 Daniel Heneghan (July 2, 1994). "Sands casino addition opens with fanfare, eager gamblers". Press of Atlantic City – via NewsBank.
  28. ↑ Debra Dowling (March 27, 1994). "Sands bets on power of Hollywood". The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) – via NewsBank.
  29. ↑ Seth Goldstein (November 18, 1995). "Hollywood Casino betting on sell-through". Billboard – via Google Books.
  30. ↑ Bill Kent (July 16, 1995). "Buffet by DeMille". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  31. ↑ Martin Zimmerman (December 19, 1996). "Hollywood Casino to spin off its 80% interest in Pratt Hotel". Dallas Morning News – via NewsBank.
  32. ↑ "Hollywood Casino Corporation announces the spin off of Pratt Hotel Corporation to Hollywood Casino shareholders" (Press release). Hollywood Casino Corp. December 18, 1996. Retrieved 2014-12-20 – via The Free Library.
  33. ↑ "Owner of Sands Casino files for bankruptcy". New York Times. January 6, 1998. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  34. 1 2 Joe Weinert (April 27, 1999). "Sands seeks to raze hotel for entryway". Press of Atlantic City – via NewsBank.
  35. ↑ Joe Weinert (September 26, 1999). "Casino Notes". Press of Atlantic City – via NewsBank.
  36. ↑ Joe Weinert (September 30, 2000). "Sands says goodbye to bankruptcy, hello to Icahn". Press of Atlantic City – via NewsBank.
  37. ↑ "Red carpet rolls out amid the red ink". The Times (Trenton, NJ). AP. June 24, 2000 – via NewsBank.
  38. ↑ John Curran (March 8, 2000). "Park Place, Icahn boost stakes for bankrupt Atlantic City casino". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  39. ↑ "Icahn's Sands plan gets nod from judge". Los Angeles Times. AP. July 29, 2000. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  40. ↑ "Billionaire financier Carl Icahn pulls Sands out of bankruptcy". AP. September 30, 2000. Retrieved 2014-12-20 – via Casino City Times.
  41. ↑ "Claridge, as expected, seeks Chapter 11 reorganization". Press of Atlantic City. August 17, 1999 – via NewsBank.
  42. ↑ Judy Dehaven (August 31, 2001). "Against the tide - The tiny Sands tries to stay afloat amid rival casinos' wave of expansion". The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) – via NewsBank.
  43. ↑ "N.J. allows 2 casinos to merge". Philadelphia Inquirer. AP. January 1, 2003 – via NewsBank.
  44. ↑ Erin Marie Daly (January 30, 2007). "Court OK's GB Holdings’ Ch. 11 plan". Law360. Retrieved 2014-12-21. (subscription required)
  45. ↑ "Madison makeover". Casino Connection AC. May 2005. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
  46. 1 2 Donald Wittkowski (June 15, 2006). "Icahn group paid $61M. for A.C. land". Press of Atlantic City.  – via HighBeam (subscription required)
  47. 1 2 3 Suzette Parmley (September 6, 2006). "Pinnacle to buy Sands, adjacent Boardwalk site". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  48. ↑ "Pinnacle Entertainment closes purchase of Sands/Traymore site in Atlantic City, N.J." (Press release). Pinnacle Entertainment. November 17, 2006. Retrieved 2014-12-20 – via PR Newswire.
  49. ↑ WPVI-TV/Action News implosion coverage
  50. ↑ Donald Wittkowski (July 30, 2010). "Pinnacle land in Atlantic City likely to sell for 70 percent less than purchase price". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  51. ↑ Jennifer Bogdan (November 6, 2013). "Former Sands Casino Hotel site sells for $29.5 million". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  52. ↑ City of Atlantic City v. Ace Gaming, LLC, pp. 7-9, 21-24 (Tax Court of New Jersey June 5, 2006). Text

Coordinates: 39°21′29″N 74°25′52″W / 39.358°N 74.431°W / 39.358; -74.431

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