Trump Plaza Files Casino Deed Restriction To Avoid NJ PILOT Program
June 30, 2015 3:38 amLast September, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino became the fourth Atlantic City gambling venues to close its doors that year, in the process forcing 1,300 employees out of work. Now the owner of the business, Trump Entertainment Resorts, has revealed it intends to keep the property from being used as a casino for at least the next ten years in order to avoid having to pay potentially higher taxes associated with Gov. Chris Christie’s casino payment-in-lieu of taxes bill that passed in the New Jersey state Senate last week.
The bill targets any property that operated as a casino in 2014, and would result in the Trump Plaza Casino having to provide mandatory payments even though the venue is shut and generating no revenues. Consequently, Trump Entertainment Resorts has now applied for a deed restriction preventing the former casino from operating as a gambling venue for at least a minimum of 10 years, although it could still be used for other purpose. The deed restriction was first revealed in the company’s filing with a Delaware bankruptcy court, and as an extract of the statement explains:
“The PILOT program applies to casino gaming properties that are ‘not subject to recorded covenants prohibiting casino gaming.'”
Trump Entertainment Resorts’ decision follows that of the former Showboat Casino Hotel which closed last August and subsequently filed and received a deed restriction keeping it out of New Jersey’s PILOT program. However, anyone buying either of the venues could still potentially use them as a casinos providing they were prepared to pay a “release fee” canceling the restriction.
Nevertheless, many industry experts have suggested the property would be of greater value if it was completely demolished and the land used for non-gambling purposes, instead, such as becoming part of The Walk expansion project, an outdoor upmarket shopping district which the shut Trump Plaza currently sits opposite.