Trump Plaza Casino lays off 1,000 Workers

There’s more bad news to report regarding Atlantic City. The Trump Plaza Hotel Casino just laid off 1,000 workers as a precursor to possibly closing down on September 16th.

Although nothing is official, Trump Entertainment Resorts has started “reviewing alternatives for the property.” The company’s statement continues by reading, “Although this review has not been completed and no final decision has been made, the company expects that it will terminate the operations of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino on or shortly after September 16, 2014.”

Trump Plaza is one of the worst-performing casinos left among the 10 Atlantic City gaming establishments. They filled less than half of their hotel rooms in the first quarter of 2014, and also had the city’s worst gaming revenue in May. Assuming this type of performance continues, the Sept. 16th shutdown date could very well become a reality.

New Jersey Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo, who represents the Atlantic City area, was pretty surprised at how quickly the 1,000 workers were laid off. “We didn’t expect this to happen all at once like this,” he said.

If Trump Plaza were to close, they’d be the third Atlantic City casino this year to do so. The Atlantic Club closed towards the beginning of 2014, with Caesars Entertainment and the Tropicana buying the casino and harvesting it for parts. The Mardi Gras-themed Showboat hasn’t closed yet, but announced that they are guaranteed to do so at the end of August.

Currently, the Revel’s status remains up in the air. Their ownership group says that the Revel will shut down on August 18th if they can’t find a buyer in bankruptcy court. This would mark a massive failure in the Atlantic City market because the $2.4 billion Revel was expected to help reverse the town’s ailing economy. Instead, it has been one of the worst casino resort flops in history.

Going back to the Trump Plaza, many people recognize this venue from the billionaire businessman who started it, Donald Trump. However, Trump underwent some financial difficulties and was forced to sell all but 10% of his remaining ownership stake.

Trump Entertainment tried to sell the Plaza last year to the Meruelo Group for $20 million. However, investor Carl Icahn, who has the casino’s mortgage, blocked the sale. Now it’s very likely that the Plaza will be going completely out of business.