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NJ TODAY
SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY
The early May opening of Harrah's 452-room Bayview Tower marked the start of a spurt of hotel construction planned in the state's only gambling resort over the next two years. Showboat, Resorts and Tropicana also plan to add hotel rooms to their casino hotels in Atlantic City, where the opening of the Borgata next summer will be the first new casino resort since the Taj Mahal opened in 1990.
The city is also enjoying an expansion of retail with three new retail and entertainment centers expected to open soon. The Tropicana is building a 200,000-sf complex known as The Quarter. Caesar's is renovating the Shops at Ocean One and the Cordish Co. is building an upscale outlet center, The Walk.
In hotel room construction alone, the next two years should be close to Atlantic City's highest growth period, 1978 through 1981, the first three years of the casino gambling, according to at least one gaming analyst. The latest activity doesn't include MGM Mirage's proposed resort, which could break ground by the end of 2003.
Industry analysts say Atlantic City doesn't have enough rooms, and officials at Harrah's, with an occupancy percentage in the high 90s, report turning away customers regularly. Industry reports quote company officials saying Harrah's expects 70% of the bookings at Bayview Tower will be spillover demand from its original hotel.
The tower gives Harrah's 1,626 rooms, making it the largest hotel in New Jersey, beating the Trop by two rooms. The Borgata will take over the top spot with 2,010 rooms...