Caesars pages The Hoff; Riviera sign lives again

Enjoy the fountains and shrubbery in front of Caesars Palace while you still can. Caesars Entertainment CEO Mark Frissora plans to celebrate the company’s emergence from bankruptcy by monetizing 90 acres of Las Vegas Strip frontage. To be fair to Frissora, the Caesars Palace revamp, as well as a pedestrian bridge at Paris-Las Vegas, were in Gary Loveman‘s cards before he took a hard left turn into an LBO, the catastrophic effects of which included putting several projects into the deep freeze. The work could re-start as soon as this autumn. “We have plans to basically develop all of that very valuable center-strip property as soon as we emerge [from bankruptcy],” Frissora told Bloomberg TV. “Those assets will have a very high-return, low-risk profile.”

Although the company is still carrying $14.6 billion in debt, Frissora is flirting with markets like Brazil, Japan and South Korea, where the cost of entry will be steep. Also, apparently not having learned from its bankruptcy, the company is looking to step up its merger-and-acquisition activity. In addition to charging for parking, the company is looking to soak its Las Vegas customers through higher hotel-room prices. What cost you $92 in 2012 now will set you back $140.

The Caesars Palace addition (7 acres) will be the least of the company’s new developments. It’s got 40 acres in back of the Vegas High Roller and 50 more behind Bally’s that it can monetize, though Frissora is playing his cards close to the vest on exactly what he plans. And if he wants to spend big, 35 acres just hit the market across from Wynn Las Vegas. In the meantime, the company has a new marketing strategy for Harrah’s Resort Southern California that can be summarized in two words: David Hasselhoff.

* For those of you wondering what will become of the Riviera‘s marquee, it’s going to find a new home on a quarter of an acre recently purchased by the Neon Museum, one of the city’s truly great achievements. Signage from the Las Vegas Club and an obscure casino called the Polynesian will also make its way to the new acreage. The Neon Museum is also partnering with Fashion Show Mall to display restored neon at the latter, giving pedestrians a kick of old-time Vegas. Bravo, we say.

* In something of a devil’s bargain, the Spirit Lake Tribal Council in North Dakota is considering lifting a longstanding ban on liquor sales. The motivation is to draw more events to the tribe’s casino. The irony of the move is that proceeds from the booze sales would go toward establishing a tribal rehab center. Then again, casinos in the private sector pay taxes that go toward treatment of problem gambling, so who are we to judge?