ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- A Florida developer agreed to buy Atlantic City's former Revel Casino Hotel for $82 million Tuesday, a week after a bankruptcy judge declared his former deal to buy it at a higher price dead.

Revel Hotel Casino
Revel Hotel Casino (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
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Glenn Straub's new contract gives him a discount from the $95.4 million his Polo North Country Club would have had to pay under a deal killed by the judge last week at the request of the casino's owners, Revel AC. But Judge Gloria Burns never entered a final order terminating the sale, giving both parties time for last-ditch negotiations that resulted in Tuesday's new purchase deal.

Straub's lawyer, Stuart Moskovitz, said the deal will close by March 31, and Straub plans to have at least part of what he envisions primarily as a recreational complex open by summer. Straub is still not certain a casino will be part of the mix, though it remains a possibility.

"Polo North is working diligently with its team to finalize an operational plan for the property to be successful, not just `business as normal,' as was done in the past," he said. "These plans include major construction of a $50 million-dollar-plus expansion of the exterior area of the building, and a $50 million-dollar-plus relocation of items such as a more accessible hotel lobby and a large medical-health spa and facility."

The sale marked another stunning turn in the tortured history of Revel, which had inked -- and lost --two previous deals to sell it since the $2.4 billion resort shut down Sept. 2. Straub's Polo North Country Club made an initial bid last summer that set a floor for the bankruptcy court auction at which it was outbid by Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management.

Brookfield bid $110 million for Revel but bailed out of the deal in November because of a still-unresolved dispute over debt from the construction of Revel's costly power plant -- an issue that helped sink Straub's first deal to buy Revel as well.

With Brookfield out of the way, Straub's $95.4 million bid was the lone remaining offer for Revel, and both sides proceeded with that plan. But Straub missed a Feb. 9 deadline to close the deal because he did not know if he would be forced to accept former business tenants -- an issue Moskovitz now says is no longer a deal-breaker.

Revel said Tuesday that Straub had turned over the full $82 million purchase price in cash and that it would move "promptly" to seek approval of the deal from the bankruptcy court.

The new property does not yet have a name -- but it won't be called Revel.

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