MACK MAXED OUT

Morgan Stanley chief John Mack is rolling the dice on a $2 billion bet to open a new Atlantic City casino – while rival Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein got cold feet on building a competing casino next door and folded.

Morgan Stanley is all alone in holding together its big project to open the 3,800-room, double-tower Revel Casino showplace in two years, while it continues to seek financing for the casino, one of New Jersey’s largest.

About seven floors have already been erected by builder Tishman Construction, using at least $300 million – and as much as an estimated $470 million – that Morgan Stanley helped provide in interim loans and financing, said industry sources.

“At this time, our exposure in not material to the firm,” said a Morgan Stanley spokesman who declined to discuss the private casino project.

Morgan Stanley’s deal suffered a setback last week when a state judge knocked a city bond referendum off the ballot to provide Revel with $56 million in assistance.

Analysts say it’s a bad time for Atlantic City ventures, and several casino developers have been forced to shelve deals in recent weeks that were the centerpieces of a massive $20 billion facelift of the Boardwalk and beach.

Among the stalled projects is Goldman’s deal to bankroll former Caesars Entertainment president Wally Barr, to build a gaming palace next door to Morgan Stanley’s 20-acre Revel Casino, which is being headed by Kevin DeSanctis, former president of Penn National Gaming

Pinnacle Entertainment also shelved its plan for a $1.5 billion casino on the site of the former Sands Hotel Casino on the Boardwalk.

Mack’s firm paid $3.43 million per acre for 20 vacant acres, or $70 million – while Goldman Sachs paid twice that, or $7.73 million per acre for its site, and Pinnacle paid the highest price for its land at $16 million an acre, said industry sources.