Most happy fella; Whither the Western?

If you added Melco Crown Entertainment to your portfolio of stocks, you’ve got a right to be feeling smart right about now. U.S.-traded shares of the stock are up 111% over the course of 2013. Weaker-than-expected high roller play has burned the company. But it’s got an ace up it sleeve in the form of new governmental policies from Peking that will occasion “this influx of affluent middle-class Chinese visitation coming to that area.” according to Craig-Hallum Capital Group analyst Bryan Maher.

Melco is accordingly shifting its sights toward high-value players, a niche below junket-led VIPs, and toward mass-market play … a natural fit for City of Dreams and forthcoming Studio City.

The other half of the Melco Crown dynamic duo, James Packer, is getting bogged down in Sri Lanka. Allegations of preferential treatment have been flung in his direction. Leaders of the Buddhist community are also opposing Packer’s resort on moral grounds. Whether or not Packer rewrites the development deal to placate his adversaries, he’s unlikely to get the go-ahead this year. Packer’s hotel would receive a tax holiday and that’s been one of the sticking points. However, since he has one of only two casino footholds in Sri Lanka, Packer’s is a beachhead not to be yielded without titanic struggle.

While the old Western Hotel may be an abandoned hulk on the fringe of Downtown, that doesn’t mean its days as a casino site are over. New owners 899 Fremont (a front for Tony Hsieh‘s Downtown Project) want to keep the gambling option open. Mind you, the Western’s size and locale make it ideal for redevelopment as the big-box retail Mayor Carolyn Goodman wants to bring to Downtown. But 899 Fremont is “considering the option of developing it into a new nonrestricted gaming establishment,” according to its lawyer. Given Hsieh’s distaste for gambling, that’s a surprise but perhaps someone would like to lease the old gal and spruce her up. Informed speculation is that Hsieh wants to keep as many options for that site open indefinitely. And, for all the infamy associated with the Western, her demise would probably cause a fair amount of sadness.