Trump Taj Mahal to give up casino license but not for sale

Trump Taj Mahal Associates LLC notified the Department of Gaming Enforcement that it intends to surrender its casino license.

The company also placed a deed restriction on the property not allowing gaming if the property is sold, according to paperwork filed with the Atlantic County Clerk’s Office on Dec. 19.

The deed restriction was filed the same day state lawmakers approved a bill that would impose a five-year license suspension for anyone shutting down a casino after January 2016, which currently applies only to Taj Mahal owner Carl Icahn. The department still has to approve the surrender of the license, state officials said.

Icahn told the Associated Press that the casino is not for sale right now.

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Taj Mahal ownership closed the facility, once known as the eighth wonder of the world, in October. The casino’s management had accused striking Unite Here Local 54 members of preventing a path to profitability

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Bob McDevitt, president of Local 54, declined to comment on the deed restriction. Taj Mahal officials did not return emails seeking comment.

Over the years, deed restrictions like the one at Taj Mahal have held up development at properties around the city.

In 2015, a deed restriction halted Stockton University’s plans to convert Showboat into a city campus. The restriction called for the continued operation of Showboat as a “first class casino hotel.”

Assemblyman Chris Brown, R-Atlantic, said deed restrictions usurp zoning regulations.

“They should not be able to control the market,” said Brown. “It’s why I have worked so hard to stop billionaires from placing anti-competitive deed restrictions on casino properties and have repeatedly called on the state to use the authority, I believe it currently has, to remove existing deed restrictions, so we can attract new investment into the resort.”

The deed states the restriction can be lifted for a release price, which is not stated in the deed.