Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:03pm EDT
(Adds comment from White & Case attorney in paragraphs five and six)
By Tom Hals
Sept 29 (Reuters) - The Florida developer who entered the first bid in an auction for Atlantic City, New Jersey's Revel Casino Hotel, which closed its doors this month, said on Monday he plans to challenge the results if he loses, because the process lacked transparency.
The comments, by Glenn Straub, come as the auction for Revel, Atlantic City's newest casino complex, is scheduled to resume on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in a New York law office. The auction started last week with a $90 million cash bid by Straub but adjourned for the Jewish Rosh Hashanah holiday.
Straub complained the bidding lacked transparency and he did not even know how many qualified at last week's bid deadline, or how their proposals were being valued.
"I will challenge it," Straub said in a telephone interview. "You've got to be able say, 'people, you can't bid apples against oranges.'"
Revel's attorney, John Cunningham with White & Case, called the allegations "entirely false."
Cunningham said Straub had asked for details about other bidders during a court hearing earlier this month as part of a proposal to postpone the auction, but that Revel's team declined to make that concession.
Hanging in the balance is the two-year-old Revel, which cost $2.4 billion to build and closed on Sept. 2. The complex was meant to be a Las Vegas-style resort, but its fine dining, striking design and entertainment never caught on in a city that relies on bus tours and buffets.
Straub's said his attorney was filing papers to seek a court order staying the auction till Thursday and seeking a trustee to oversee the bidding, rather than Revel's attorneys at law firm White & Case. However, he said he did not expect the auction to be put on hold.
Straub feared Revel's legal team was colluding with other bidders, according to a court filing obtained from Straub's attorney Craig Galle, who said a paper copy of the filing was submitted to the court.
"This entire auction proceeding is highly suspect, and, given the appearance of impropriety and lack of open communication, tainted at best," said the document.
Cunningham, Revel's attorney, said he had not seen the filing.
A hearing to approve the sale to the winning bid is set for Oct. 7 in front of Judge Gloria Burns of the U.S. bankruptcy court in Camden, New Jersey, where the Chapter 11 was being handled.
Revel agreed to use Straub's initial bid to set the benchmark for other potential buyers, which have not been publicly identified. The Florida developer has said he wants to create a university at the site to gather the world's brightest minds to tackle ills such as hunger.
Four Atlantic City casinos have closed this year as neighboring states have embraced gambling to pump up government revenue. The city had 12 casinos at the start of 2014.
The case is In Re: Revel AC Inc., U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey, No. 14-22654 (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Bernard Orr)
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UPDATE 1-Bidder for Atlantic City's Revel to contest auction if he loses
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