Same old same-old at Trump; F-blew finally up for sale

Perhaps the biggest question surrounding Trump Taj Mahal is whether, when Carl Icahn takes over, the management team he has publicly upbraided will get to keep their jobs, especially since Uncle Carl has perfectly competent people taking care of business over at the Tropicana Atlantic City. In an old-wine-in-new-bottles move, lead Trump Entertainment Resorts [sic] investor Marc Lasry has promoted Taj General Manager Mike Mellon as CEO. Like his predecessor, Bob Griffin, who retired last month in a fit of pique, Mellon was dredged up from the depths of Mountaineer Gaming, before the latter was bought out by Eldorado Resorts.

Don’t expect anything but the same losing ways. “I look forward to the opportunity to emerge from bankruptcy,” Mellon said, “and continue Bob Griffin’s work to return the Taj Mahal to its previous position of prominence in East Coast gaming.” Ugh. That’s just what the Taj needs: More the policies by which Bungling Bob turned the Taj from one of the Boardwalk’s leading casinos to one of its laggards. If Taj ownership hasn’t gotten the hint that new ideas are needed at this point, it never will.

* Yes, Virginia, there’s construction activity at Resorts World Las Vegas … just barely. Genting Group has an average of 30 workers on site, mostly tinkering with the parking garage. That’s a lot less construction than Genting led us to anticipate but it’s a start.

* Across the Las Vegas Strip, Icahn has finally decided it’s time to move Fontainebleau, looking to convert a $145 million acquisition into a $650 million sale. Whoever, if anyone, bites at this baited hook will be buying F-blew more for its structural steel than as a fixer-upper: It would require a multibillion-dollar investment to finish the $2.9 billion property, which Icahn has stripped of its furniture and custom-built escalators. “I’d rather sell it than take the time and energy to build it out, which we have been considering doing,” Icahn told the Wall Street Journal but I’m calling his bluff. It would be an uncharacteristically expensive venture for Icahn to finish F-blew and, besides, he disposed of its construction crane years ago.

The WSJ noted that the Strip’s cash flow ($3.4 billion last year) is still a pale shadow of 2007’s peak ($4.7 billion) and summarized Applied Analysis guru Jeremy Aguero as saying, “It isn’t clear whether the city would be able to support the $8 billion of projects currently planned or under construction around the Strip.” Nor is it clear whether there’s yet an appetite for the purchase price — $29.5 million an acre — Icahn has in mind. Strip land hasn’t gone for anything near that since the Great Recession.

* Rhode Island isn’t feeling any pain from Plainridge Park slot parlor in Massachusetts. Gambling revenues in the state are coming in 8% ($54 million) ahead of expectations. Customers of Twin River Casino may have initially defected to Plainridge but have been steadily returning, judging by the numbers from the latter. It’s good news but just a drop in the bucket of Rhode Island’s attempts to quench its budget deficit.