Musical chairs continue at Tamares Group‘s downtown Las Vegas collection of crumbling casinos. Bobby Ray Harris is out as casino manager and Anthony F. Santo is in. Otherwise, it was the same old song and dance. $20 million worth of improvements are promised, including a redesign of the Vegas Club, and a makeover and name change of the Plaza. The dreaded Western may get — this may cause fainting spells — slot machines actually built in the 21st century!
Tamares is still characterized as the properties’ landlord although its unsubtle role in thwarting and/or delaying casino improvements isn’t just an open secret but even a matter of legal record (in the ultimately pointless “Plaza vs. Plaza” lawsuit against El Ad Properties). Tamares is “passive” in downtown like the erstwhile Soviet Union was toward Czechoslovakia.
Santo actually had to ensure the Nevada Gaming Control Board that he’d tell Tamares to bugger off if it tried to meddle in casino affairs. What’s really needed is for the Control Board to cowboy up and license Tamares rather than continuing this untenable “passive landlord” fiction. (And this is the model to which New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie thinks his state should aspire?)
It’s a bit of a comedown for Santo, who once rode herd on a dozen Park Place Entertainment‘s casino properties and was a senior VP of operations at Harrah’s Entertainment before falling victim to “a strategic redesign” that coincided with Harrah’s ill-advised LBO. He’s also sat on the board of the bankrupt Las Vegas Monorail. The fact that bottom feeders like Tamares were able to scoop him up testifies to the amount of casino-exec talent that’s un- or underemployed these days — another dubious legacy of consolidation and privatization in the industry.
While we’re on the subject of executive talent lying fallow, former Station Casinos CFO Glenn Christenson quietly pulled back his application to be a director at Carl Icahn‘s newest trophy, Tropicana Entertainment. “Withdrew” is usually a NGCB euphemism for “fell on his sword,” so I wonder what the backstory on the distinguished Christenson’s about-face is.
Remember Baha Mar? One of Gary Loveman‘s many abortive overseas joint ventures, it’s back in “on” mode — tentatively and without Harrah’s or any apparent casino component. In what could be a precursor of future U.S. resort developments, the big bucks are coming from China. It’s worth noting that Harrah’s balked at slowness of Baha Mar’s genesis but the Chinese were willing to wait two-plus years. Tortoise 1, Hare 0.
His past history is very good. How I can hope. Oh, if it could only work.
The article says they want to rename it the Union Plaza. Why?
That was its name when Jackie owned it; when it was run right, and it had a train station for the daily Amtrak stops between LA and Salt Lake City.
$20 million spread over the three properties would do little good – even if Tamares spent it, which I doubt. Besides, if they did, what is the guarantee that they wouldn’t just let the “new stuff” deteriorate like the old?
I assume that part of the $20 mil would go toward paying their back fees for the “Fremont Street Experience” light show, and for the new signs, promotional materials, etc. for the new name.
I ask again: When is somebody going to buy the joints, who cares what happens to them?