Margaritaville on the rocks

Long-serving — and long-suffering — Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway has lost patience with Harrah’s Entertainment. He is convinced that the metamorphosis of Grand Casino Biloxi into Margaritaville Casino is kaput and that Harrah’s will tear down what little it has built. The fact that Harrah’s is obtaining new casinos from the Las Vegas Strip to Bratislava (to say nothing of sniffing around Fontainebleau and the Palms) has not escaped him. Meanwhile, Margaritaville gathers dust. Its construction cranes were dismantled a good while ago. (Even several moribund Vegas projects have kept their cranes in place.) For its part, Harrah’s says it is “evaluat[ing] options” — perhaps such as having the option to double down on the Philadelphia market. The company confirms that it’s dickering with the erstwhile Foxwoods project, on which it holds a $67 million marker.

Speaking of moribund …

KLAS-TV takes inventory of the failed, failing or just-not-happening casino and condo developments on the north end of the Strip. While the Riviera‘s bankruptcy filing was merely the ratification of a fait accompli, even Circus Circus is operating on a thin margin these days. The malaise created by horribly misconceived projects like Echelon, El Ad Properties‘ seven-tower Plaza and the Godzilla-like Fontainebleau, to say nothing of absentee owners like Sahara blowhard-in-chief Sam Nazarian, has left us with a “dead zone” north of Wynncore.

The Strip can be said to essentially end now at the Spring Mountain intersection, with Treasure Island and Wynn holding the line against the Hubris That Ate Las Vegas. And if the salvation of the North Strip hinges upon the much-talk/no-action team of Christopher Milam and Paul & Sue Lowden, that area is screwed. As for Milam’s claim that he has an NBA team (i.e., the Detroit Pistons) on the leash, the league’s response is essentially, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!”

(Milam also proposes to uproot UNLV‘s basketball team and relocate it to the Strip. Ironically, the Thomas & Mack Center is in one of the few areas of town that can handle game-sized traffic flow. The Lowdens’ acreage is definitely not. Also, turning the Runnin’ Rebels into a tourist attraction will only increase local antipathy toward the casino industry.)

Meet the new boss, pretty much the same as the old boss (aka Donald Trump), as the deck chairs at Trump Entertainment Resorts are slightly rearranged. “We’re really positioned to do something special. We got rid of so much debt, and we have the best brand in town, by far,” bloviated Trump in familiar fashion.

If Trump’s casino acumen is suspect, he’s Warren Buffet compared to private-equity partner Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital. The latter claims to have several buyers nibbling at hard-to-sell Trump Marina but absolutely rules out closing the money-losing, bottom-of-the-market casino if he can’t get the purchase price he covets. It must be reassuring for investors to know that Lasry and Trump are resolved to continue throwing money away in lieu of bowing to reality.

From Ameristar this is the news (with apologies to Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra): Hammered by enormous competition from nearby Horseshoe Hammond (the pride of Harrah’s Midwest properties) as well as by hampered traffic flow, Ameristar East Chicago let 50 employees go late last week. The least profitable of Ameristar‘s casinos, it still carries, 1,200-1,300 workers on the payroll. (Thanks to reader TFW for the tip.)

A sad saga

Prepare to have your heart broken by this CNN report on pets left homeless by the biblical-sized plague that is Deepwater Horizon. One thing of which there is no shortage in this calamity is innocent victims. If you can help, the Louisiana SPCA would like to hear from you.