Florida developer Glenn Straub moved one step closer to owning the Revel Casino Hotel (if he still wants it) after a federal judge shot down a request by business tenants of the old hotel and casino to stop the sale of the property because they wanted to appeal the sale.

Judge Jerome B. Simandle of the U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J. issued the order, freeing Straub from any obligations to honor the leases and other rights of the property’s amenity tenants and affirming Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns’ ruling that the property could be sold “free and clear of liens, claims, encumbrances and interests.”

Judge Simandle also cited the “palpable risk of losing a ready buyer” as one of the reasons behind declining the request of the tenants and without any alternative buyer waiting in the wings, Revel could end up losing out and would be left “empty and commercially unproductive.”

“Such concerns would not sufficiently outweigh the far more prevalent interest in facilitating the success of bankruptcy proceedings and enabling such proceedings to reach finality,” Judge Simandle added.

Straub, through his lawyer Stuart Moskovitz, threatened to walk away from the deal if the tenants’ appeal were approved. But now that the issue has been cleared up and the developer is no longer in the hook to honor those leases, Moskovitz remarked that the purchase could proceed.

The real estate developer also scored a separate victory when Judge Simandle also junked a similar appeal filed by ACR Energy Partners LLC, the operator of the casino’s custom-built powerplant.

The powerplant issue has been a major sticking point in the sale of the casino. Canadian equity firm Brookfield Holdings abandoned its planned purchase of the casino because it couldn’t agree to a deal with the powerplant operator, which Revel reportedly paid more than $3 million a month when it was still open.