Celebrated Atlantic City Casino Operator to Head New Las Vegas Project

The casino industry executive who was the architect behind the makeover of the Atlantic City casino industry will be leaving for Las Vegas.

Bob Boughner, who ran the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, will be leaving to oversee a $4 billion casino resort development project by the Boyd Gaming Corp.

Boughner said that the new project will take some design and construction clues from the supremely successful Borgata. The project will be named Echelon Place, and will be located on the Las Vegas Strip. The complex, which is scheduled to open in 2010, will take the place of the Stardust Resort & Casino. Echelon Place is to include four hotels with over five thousand guest rooms, 140,000 square feet of gambling space, and many upscale restaurants and stores.

Boughner’s goal at the Borgata was to mimic Las Vegas in its style in order to draw new younger and richer clientele to Atlantic City. He was, by all accounts, extremely successful. Of his departure, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chair Linda M. Kassekert said, "We will miss him. He was a real visionary coming to Atlantic City. He changed the atmosphere here by bringing in a wealthier and younger crowd."

Boughner was able to surprise many people with his accomplishments at the Borgata, and has largely been credited with an Atlantic City casino industry revolution. Borgata, under Boughner’s direction, quickly rose to become Atlantic City’s most lucrative casino. Its gross operating profit last quarter was over $75 million. Boughner hopes to accomplish a similar revolution in his new role as the Echelon Palace chief executive.

"I'm reminded of a time about five years ago," Boughner said. "We were gearing up for the development of Borgata. There was some skepticism about the capacity of the Atlantic City market to grow, the dilution that would occur in the marketplace and how a new property in the market would work."

"We are going to, as we have done with Borgata, bring the best minds and best talent and the greatest amount of discipline and control to a very large and expensive project," Boughner added.

When Boughner departs Las Vegas, the current executive vice president and chief operating officer will take his place as the Borgata’s chief executive. Larry Mullin, who is 46, told reporters that he plans to carry on Boughner’s plans for the casino complex. "The plan here is not something that just came about. This has been a well thought out and well-executed property since we began operating," Mullin said.

Mullin got his start in the casino industry in the Harrah’s Atlantic City promotions-booth over 20 years ago, and quickly scaled the executive ladder.

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