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The Trump Taj Mahal, originally founded by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for a price of $1 billion, yesterday announced that it'll be closing its doors following Labor Day Weekend in early September.

The property is owned by billionaire Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprise and operated by Tropicana Enterprises who in a press release blames the shutdown at the ongoing strike by nearly 1,000 workers of the UNITE Here union because the Fourth of July weekend. Endlessly to the strike, president and CEO of Tropicana Entertainment Anthony Rodio believes there is not any "route to profitability," and that because of the casino bleeding millions of greenbacks a month the closure is important to fulfill "fiduciary duties to their shareholders."

The Atlantic City casino has experienced many difficulties ever since construction began in 1983 by Resorts International, who owned the neighboring Resorts Casino Hotel. The budget on the time was set for $250 million with James Crosby, then the international chairman of Resorts International, speculating the valuables would likely be called the U.S. Hotel.

The project immediately struggled with construction difficulties. When Crosby passed on to the great beyond in April 1986, Resorts International became a main target for takeover with Trump beating out other bidders to obtain the corporate for $79 million in July 1987. On the time, Trump publicly stated he would complete the integrated casino resort in a couple of year after he was appointed because the chairman of Resorts International.

This was not meant to be, and for a couple of reasons. In step with Atlantic City law, Trump was prohibited from owning greater than three casinos. Trump on the time already had his footprint deep in Atlantic City, operating two casinos including the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and Trump Marina with Resorts Casino Hotel having become his third casino property.

Meanwhile in 1988, the estimated budget for completion inflated to $930 million with $550 million had to complete the valuables. The specter of bankruptcy was at the horizon. After failing to secure financing, Trump offered to buy all outstanding shares of Resorts International for $22 a share and finance the rest construction with the caveat that he owned 100% of the property.

This began a battle between Trump and tv host and media mogul Mervyn Griffin, Jr., who offered a way more substantial $35 per share for Resorts International. After numerous lawsuits were filed between the two, a settlement was reached in November 1988 whereby Griffin acquired the Resorts International and sold the Taj Mahal to Trump for $273 million.

Shortly thereafter, Trump then was capable of complete the development of the valuables. The doors finally opened on April 2, 1990 way to the raising of $650 million in junk bonds with a high 14 percent interest rate.

The casino was easily the biggest in Atlantic City with 120,000 square feet of gaming space alone, and was the top grossing casino until 2003 when the Borgata Casino Hotel & Spa opened its doors in 2003.

Despite its size, the casino continued to experience difficulties after opening, primarily as a result of not generating enough income to pay its creditors. This led to a bankruptcy agreement in 1991 whereby the junk bond holders received 50 percent of the valuables in exchange for lower rates of interest and an extended payback period.

For greater than a decade, the Trump Taj Mahal was the primary attraction of Atlantic City with only a few reported problems. A restructuring happened in 1996 when new publicly traded company, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, acquired the valuables at a valuation of $890 million.

By the time 2009 rolled around, Trump extinguished his entire ownership of the casino resort outside of a ten percent stake in return for the usage of "Trump" within the property's name.

Struggles continued to mount until September 10, 2014 when Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy. On the time, the gang announced the Trump Taj Mahal would close on November 13, 2014 unless there has been an agreement from union workers on concessions.

While the company's Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was considered one of four casinos to shutdown during an epic downsizing in Atlantic City, the prospective closure of the Trump Taj Mahal was ultimately averted by Icahn.

The potential cut-off date was pushed back several times with a difficult deadline date of December 20. Two days previous to the deadline, Icahn committed $20 million of much needed funds to the casino while union workers agreed to concessions.

In March 2015, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts gave the look to be saved by Icahn Enterprises after Icahn agreed to take over the corporate by converting $292 million of debt into equity and infusing $13.5 million into the Trump Taj Mahal. As a part of the agreement, Trump now not would receive any benefits from the casino though it will still be allowed to continue using his name.

One year later, in February 2016, the bankruptcy court released the corporate under the brand new ownership.

To the general public eye, things seemed to be going well with the casino's poker site reopening in May 2016 after its shutdown in February 2015. However, it appeared that while more expansion was potentially planned, the casino's operators also began expressing skepticism surrounding the state's legislature considering to permit casinos within the northern a part of the state.

The potential turnaround for the casino was further thwarted when the nearly 1,000 union workers went on strike on July 1 demanding certain benefits to be restored and higher conditions. As noted, the casino's ownership and operators now state they're unable to look a "route to profitability" under the present conditions and feature announced plans to near permanently.

Lead image courtesy of Wikipedia.org.

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