Having borrowed money to buy the Las Vegas Hilton five years ago at a dirt-cheap $200 million, Colony Capital — those financial wizards — borrowed $250 million more to retire the first loan. (Does Colony intend to pay off the second loan by taking out a third?)
At some point, Colony may have to start like, you know, paying down these loans … but not yet. It's extended the maturity on Loan #2 into 2011. The story (second item) is somewhat confusingly worded, but it sounds like Colony is down to its last extension. And the LVH is now losing money. Perhaps Colony should ring up Penn National Gaming and see if CEO Peter Carlino wants to talk "flip." It's still a classy property with a wealth of history and unbeatable proximity to the Las Vegas Convention Center. There are much worse deals to be had out there (*cough* Fontainebleau *cough*).
Also: LVH headliner Barry Manilow is reportedly mulling a leap over to Paris-Las Vegas, another augury of trouble for Colony. Manilow's departure would leave the LVH with some tight trousers to fill.
Another setback for Ed Ad. Its attempt to lease the southeast portion of its ex-New Frontier acreage to a "Dinner in the Sky" outfit (complete with a 160-foot crane) got the back of the hand from the Clark County Commission. Both Boyd Gaming and Wynn Resorts balked at the prospect of diners dangling high above Echelon and Wynn Las Vegas. However, there's some pretty freaky shit on the Strip already and this seems tame by comparison. God knows, it couldn't be worse than the lametastic "Sirens of T&A" or whatever Phil Ruffin's nautical titty show is called.
