Vegas Free-for-All - Vintage Train Cars at Downtown’s Main Street Station Find New Home

Vintage Train Cars at Downtown’s Main Street Station Find New Home

CowboyKell

Jan 13, 2017
2:21am

Quote

Originally posted by: alanleroy

Quote
Originally posted by: CowboyKell
I like downtown and have always had an almost secret fantasy about being a casino owner.
When I retired I spent (i.e. wasted) an obscene amount of money on an exploratory research report to form a syndicate to buy the Plaza. Reality killed that fantasy.
.

What did you estimate the bottom line cost to buy the Plaza?

We were proposing $30 to $50 million. Our problem was that we were late to the party. If we had been able to deal with Barrick when they wanted out we might have been able to get in at the lower end of the range. When Tamares became majority holder we were shut out of a Plaza only deal, other Tamares properties would have to be purchased as well. The significant price increase, north of $75 million, and a much smaller role for myself as a minority investor (I think they were going to let me be a bell boy) led to me dropping out completely.

bbking

Jan 13, 2017
3:02am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: vegasdev

Quote
Originally posted by: CowboyKell
I like downtown and have always had an almost secret fantasy about being a casino owner.
When I retired I spent (i.e. wasted) an obscene amount of money on an exploratory research report to form a syndicate to buy the Plaza. Reality killed that fantasy.

Lately I have been paying close attention to Binion's. The old Horseshoe holds a special place in my memory. It is the first place I ever gambled. 25 cent craps.
I really believe that Binion's could be a top contender downtown. I KNOW that the poker room could be a top spot in the city with the right management (that doesn't necessarily mean it would be a big money maker). The hotel could turn a profit with the right marketing. Any casino with that much free foot traffic can get by....if you work at it.

Of course when I casually brought this up at home I thought I was going to get slapped. I was reminded that I retired to enjoy life and my young family, not work my ass off on another challenge.

I man needs his fantasies.

Binions is a shell of its former self, sad to say. surely someone could turn it around. it cant be beat for location and foot traffic. I am a budget minded vegas visitor, so I love a bargain and a fair gamble. .25 cent craps is probably out of the question, but maybe $1? I would love to see a $1 craps table downtown. with the right management and marketing team, surely it could turn a profit. what we don't need more of is loud music, 6:5 BJ, resort fees and that kind of crap.
my fantasies I suppose. ;-)

On my trip last May, I was told by a Binion's employee there was plans to reopen the hotel, but the rooms were so infested with bugs they would have to be completely rebuilt from scratch.

billryan

Jan 13, 2017
3:28am

Block User

Binions hotel is such a mishmash and maze. I think that there were three separate hotels at one point that eventually became one. One trip I stayed on the same floor as my friends but had to take an elevator to the lobby, walk fifty feet and take a different elevator back up. One stay, I got a fantastic room, the next I got a room fit for a YMCA.

BeelzeBob

Jan 13, 2017
5:02am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: bbking

On my trip last May, I was told by a Binion's employee there was plans to reopen the hotel, but the rooms were so infested with bugs they would have to be completely rebuilt from scratch.

I seem to recall that at some point they stated that there was a large asbestos problem they would have to deal with. Or something like that.

I think the other problem with Binion's and some others downtown is they don't own the land. As I recall there are 5 or more different owners of the land under Binion's. This is from 2004:

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Local attorneys for two of the five groups of landowners of the property under the Horseshoe who asked not to be identified said there has is still no agreement with Harrah's for the payment of an undetermined amount of back rent or for appropriate leases for the land.

It can't be easy to try to run any business in a situation like that.

Don

Jan 13, 2017
6:55am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: BeelzeBob
I think the other problem with Binion's and some others downtown is they don't own the land. As I recall there are 5 or more different owners of the land under Binion's. This is from 2004:

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Local attorneys for two of the five groups of landowners of the property under the Horseshoe who asked not to be identified said there has is still no agreement with Harrah's for the payment of an undetermined amount of back rent or for appropriate leases for the land.

From 2010:
"About a half-dozen different interests own the Binion's land parcels, many of whom inherited ownership from the original families who bought the land in auction back in 1905. There are dozens of ownership partners tied into those parcels, and TLC has been sued for failing to comply with terms of its lease of the Binion's land."
Ref: Las Vegas Sun

Years ago, pr'bly around the time the Binions associates were having all sorts of legal troubles, . . . poor old DonDiego read an article which included a "map" of the land on which the Horseshoe sits. It was sometime after the murder trial and subsequent trial addressing the "disappearance" of Benny Binion's silver collection, . . .i.e. the Good Old Days, like a decade ago or so.

Anyway there were lots of owners. As DonDiego recalls there were all sorts of squarish and rectangular bits and pieces owned by lots of different folks, . . . some like maybe 40feetX30feet rectangles or 15feetX15feet squares, . . . all fitted together to make up the block.
Apparently it's been consolidated down to 5 or 6 legal-parties; still a problem.

BeelzeBob

Jan 13, 2017
9:22pm

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: DonDiego

Years ago, pr'bly around the time the Binions associates were having all sorts of legal troubles, . . . poor old DonDiego read an article which included a "map" of the land on which the Horseshoe sits.

I remember that map as well, part of why I mentioned it in that last post. But alas, I couldn't find it anywhere online.

However, the city does have a site that shows individual lots at:

https://clvplaces.appspot.com/apps/interactive/clvpi.htm

There was some kind of disclaimer about how not everything is maintained anymore, so who knows how accurate it is. But it still is kind of interesting seeing all the little lots and then thinking about trying to negotiate with all of them for rent. Below is a screen shot of that area:

billryan

Jan 14, 2017
1:13am

Block User

I read, several years ago, how Mae West did a long term engagement in Vegas and took land instead of cash. She also carved her land into smaller parcels distributed scattershot around town instead of having one parcels.

linda2244

Jan 14, 2017
11:18pm

Block User

The trains will surely be missed. Hoping that Downtown will improve when they get Vegas Club and all the others reopened. I too remember .25 craps at Binions, Plaza and MOST of the DT places. yes, bring back the $1 crap tables at least.. loads of fun without risking the lifes savings for one session LOL

linda2244

Jan 14, 2017
11:18pm

Block User

Slow load, double post.. sorry!

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