An unnamed hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip is being quietly advertised on private-equity forums. It’s listed as a “brand name” property that’s been in operation for over 30 years. The age would seem to suggest The Mirage (born 1989) but it’s too big—3,044 rooms—to fit the description, although nothing else on Las Vegas Boulevard is of comparable vintage. Excalibur? Almost as old but even bigger. No, the casino in question is advertised as having 1,500 hotel rooms, four restaurants and a 48,437-square-foot gaming floor. What hotel-casino fits those specs? Why, our old friend the Tropicana Las Vegas. Number of hotel rooms? Check. Four restaurants? Check. Casino square footage? 45,000 square feet but close enough. Convention and exhibition space? Check and check. Plus, new owner Gaming & Leisure Properties is empowered to flip the place and manager Penn National Gaming gets a cut of the sale proceeds if the deed (pardon the pun) is done in the next couple of years. The anonymous seller may have shaved a few decades off the Trop’s age but you don’t ask a lady how old she is—and the Trop has been around for “30-plus” years.
Prospective buyers? Twin River Holdings is aiming higher. Hard Rock International has been kicking the tires of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. What about Maverick Gaming? No, they’re retrenching at the moment. An enterprising Native American tribe perhaps? A North Dakota band just bought the Skyvue site and Mohegan Sun will shortly be at Virgin Hotel Las Vegas. Your move, Foxwoods.
