Hard Rock Abandons Plans for Atlantic City Casino

Hard Rock International and its financial partner have decided not to pursue their plans to open a casino in Atlantic City, N.J. The developers made the announcement as they faced a Wednesday deadline to pay a $1 million application fee and submit a construction schedule to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which had already granted a six-month extension. Hard Rock proposed the $460 million Boardwalk development after passage of a new law designed to encourage smaller casino projects. Plans called for a resort with just 200 hotel rooms, due to open in 2015, followed by a second phase that would add another 650 rooms. In a statement, the Orlando-based entertainment company cited poor market conditions as the reason for the decision, but it did not rule out revisiting the site in the future. pressofatlanticcity.com