AC to Make Room for 5,000 More Rooms

Business in Atlantic City may have fallen 10.6 percent last month compared to September 2006, but don't tell that to MGM Mirage Inc. The company has announced its plan to build a casino in the Always Turned On city, the second largest gambling center in the United States, worth up to $5 billion.

The resort, in near proximity to the successful Borgata, 50% of which is owned by MGM, will be the largest Atlantic City has ever seen.

On the surface of things, this may seem like a peculiar, even risky decision. Skeptics abound. Especially with business falling due to competition from neighboring states operating their own gambling venues, namely Delaware and Pennsylvania.

But a bird's eye view of Atlantic City shows mass development on the Boardwalk, condominiums and town houses being built en masse and tourism pouring in. Indeed, local officials claim hotel occupancy and business is up over a year ago, though these numbers are contested.

In a city plagued by corrupt mayors (the same day the announcement regarding the new casino was made, Robert W. Levy has resigned from office over a federal investigation of his misrepresentation of his Army service in Vietnam), the gambling business is one way to strive towards the future. In fact, it is a multi-billion dollar bet that one company is willing to make.