By JOHN CURRAN
The Associated Press
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is spreading the wealth.
The $1 billion casino, a huge hit with gamblers since its 2003 debut, will add an 800-room hotel tower next year in the second phase of an expansion project, the company announced Tuesday.
The $325 million addition, named The Water Club at Borgata, will also feature four pools, a two-story "spa in the sky," six retail shops and 18,000 square feet of meeting space in the glass hotel tower. Of the 800 guest rooms, 750 will be "classic," and there will be 20 suites and 15 two-bedroom suites, four of which will be corner suites with "media-rich mini theaters," the company said.
The 43-story building, which will look similar to Borgata's existing tower, will help the casino keep pace with runaway demand for its rooms, which have occupancy of 97 percent even in the market's traditionally slow winter months, said Larry Mullin, president and chief operating officer.
"It will be a more upscale experience than what we have now," said Mullin.
Like the Borgata, the expansion is a joint venture of Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage. The new tower is expected to open in late 2007.
"We conceived The Water Club as an exclusive extension to the sophisticated, international style that already defines Borgata," said Bob Boughner, the former Borgata CEO who oversaw design of the expansion. "Quietly cosmopolitan yet energized, The Water Club will be defined by clean, contemporary architecture."
Borgata, which opened in July 2003 as the first new casino in Atlantic City in 13 years, has been anything but quiet.
The 2,010-room casino has dramatically affected the Atlantic City market, drawing younger gamblers to town and luring older ones away from its competitors.
It has been the city's highest-grossing casino in all but one month since its opening, and its emphasis on table games, coinless slot machines and expensive name-brand restaurants has helped it dominate the market since the day it opened its doors.
The casino is already at work on the first phase of its expansion, which includes $200 million worth of new casino space, new restaurants and a poker room. Opening for that is scheduled for spring.
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