Whenever you think the Revel saga is done, a new complexity arises. Glenn Straub‘s $82 million purchase is set to be ruled upon in bankruptcy court tomorrow. But, slipping over the 
transom at the last minute come Leo Pustilnikov and fellow developer Isek Shomof, brandishing $80 million. While Straub has placed $82 million in escrow, Pustilnikov and Shomof are making “an offer of funds.” Ooooooh, an offer of funds! How exciting. The duo argues that their seemingly lowball offer outdoes Straub’s because $10 million of his $82 million in cash comes from a forfeited deposit on his (since superseded) $95 million bid. They must be mighty enamored of Revel, since they’re making a purchase offer without ever having seen the place.
Shomof, “a prominent redeveloper of older buildings in downtown Los Angeles,” is trying to outflank Straub by making friends with Revel’s tenants and promising he won’t try to evict or otherwise move them. “We would like the tenants to remain. The tenants have invested a lot of money into their spaces and have performed well in their spaces prior to them being unceremoniously removed,” Pustilnikov said. Although they’ve been refused access to Revel itself, the California twosome will at least get a tour of the disputed ACR power plant.
* Megaresorts in Florida are on the table again, thanks to state Rep. Dana Young (R). Her bill would permit two resort casinos and convert four dog tracks to slot parlors. Would-be 
megaresort owners would be able to buy up existing gaming licenses, a provision that looks like a dog bone thrown to the anti-gaming contingent. (So would an accompanying constitutional amendment to freeze the Florida market from further casino development … unless voters change their minds.) Dog tracks would no longer be required to hold races in order to offer slots and racinos currently in operation would have their tax rate reduced from 35% to 25%. “Instant racing” would be legalized in Jacksonville and Tampa Bay. The Palm Beach Kennel Club and Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Racing have already been tipped as prospective slot parlors.
It’s a remarkably comprehensive approach to the question of gambling expansion in Florida. It functions as a de facto compact with the Seminole Tribe, since it gets to have every Class III game permitted to private-sector casinos. That could mean blackjack, roulette and craps. Gov. Rick Scott (R) having failed miserably to make progress on tribal gaming, Young has displayed the leadership so lacking in Scott. Young is framing her package of bills as a proactive approach to the seemingly inevitable loss of Seminole revenue. If Scott doesn’t get his act together, in two years the Seminoles will be dealing directly with Uncle Sam — a far more receptive audience.
It took no time at all for the NIMBY brigade to counterattack. “This bill would cause the biggest expansion of gambling in Florida history. It invites wall-to-wall casino gambling in Florida, and the social costs and crime that go with it. It defies logic for Florida to increase its dependence on gambling at a time when casino economies across America are imploding,” raged John Sowinski of No Casinos, a front for Disney and other Orlando-area interests.
Made in Florida TV :30 from The Victory Group on Vimeo.
Young’s bill is no gimme for megaresort developers. Not only would they have to win a local referendum, a minimum $2 billion investment would be expected from them and annual taxes would be $175 million. The latter is so high because Florida will have to make up the 
revenue lost by abrogating its compact with the Seminoles. Young said her bill would bring in “significantly more than the current revenue sharing under the Seminole Compact and the state will enjoy all the related economic benefits from the destination resorts.” As for the Seminoles, they’re trying to budge Scott into action and have launched a media campaign pushing for the renewal of the compact.
Young is taking a multi-pronged approach, launching a quartet of bills at the House. HB 1233, the primary vehicle, would constrain gaming floors to 10% of total resort-casino square footage and set up a system of credits to encourage parimutuel owners to forsake their northern Florida facilities for ones in the south. Regulation of horse- and dog racing would be tightened, a tax credits for dog tracks would be eliminated. Florida’s ad hoc manner of gaming regulation (mostly by legislation) would be replaced with a gaming commission and, 
to the relief of many I’m sure, Dave & Buster’s and Chuck E. Cheese would be classified as non-gambling establishments that offer games of skill.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D, right), a Young ally from across the aisle, rightly calls this attempt at gaming expansion a “gargantuan” endeavor. But it’s a far more organized effort than we’ve seen in the past, which mostly consisted at isolated stabs at a resort casino here, some slot parlors there. But let’s not get our hopes too high: there’s less love for casinos in the state Senate, whose president, Sen. Andy Gardiner (R), said, “Everybody knows that I’m opposed to gambling. I always have been, and there’s usually three or four of us who consistently vote against any expansion – including the lottery.”
