{"id":16074,"date":"2015-05-18T12:54:22","date_gmt":"2015-05-18T20:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=16074"},"modified":"2022-12-16T08:29:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T16:29:28","slug":"ghosts-of-projects-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/ghosts-of-projects-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghosts of projects past; Alabama rethinks gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

With so much Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> acreage either in flux (Tropicana Las Vegas<\/strong>, Hooters Casino Hotel<\/strong>) or newly on the market (“Project Jackpot”), CBRE Las Vegas<\/strong> has been moved to unleash \"Las<\/a>60.5 acres on Harmon Avenue<\/strong> that were the graveyard of three victims of the condo bubble. The centerpiece is the land\u00a0optioned for a George Clooney<\/strong>-planned resort called Las Ramblas<\/strong>, which “called for 11 towers encompassing a 4,400 room luxury hotel, condominium residences, a spa and health club, nightclubs and a casino.” That pipe dream burnt out in 2006, right on the verge of groundbreaking. Next door was another bust-o-rama, 4,000-room W Las Vegas<\/strong>. It also never broke ground, although it is memorable for risible press releases that said this or that NBA<\/strong> star had bought a W condo on, say, the 36th floor (i.e., a box of air).<\/p>\n

Next door, D.R. Horton<\/strong> had\u00a0plans for “1,000 residential units over a ground-level grocery store and retail strip.” Africa Israel Group<\/strong> consolidated all three parcels, \"HARD<\/a>promising to build a 6,745-room super-hotel before defaulting on the $625 million purchase. The Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> has an excellent chronicle of the rise and fall of the ‘Harmon Strip,’<\/a> a real estate chimera developers have been pursuing for nearly 20 years. In that time, all that has happened in the expansion of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino<\/strong>. As CBRE Vice President John Knott<\/strong> admits to the R-J<\/em>, “it’s going to be a long, gradual recovery.” However, in a CBRE press release, Knott sings a different tune.\u00a0\u201cSituated between two iconic properties \u2013 Planet Hollywood<\/strong> and Hard Rock \u2013 this parcel is ripe for development\u00a0…\u00a0the time is perfect for the right visionary to realize the potential of this incredibly valuable piece of Las Vegas<\/strong> real estate.\u00a0 The possibilities are endless and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, current owner Harko LLC<\/strong> is going to take a Yul Brynner<\/strong> haircut to be rid of the land, which is expected to go for $3.5 million\/acre, best-case scenario. As Knott told the R-J<\/em>,\u00a0\u201cIf they thought the market could get $10 million an acre for dirt in the next two years, they wouldn\u2019t be selling it today.\u201d Unless Steve Wynn<\/strong> has a new megaresort concept up his sleeve, it’s difficult to see what would draw tourists off the Strip to the site of The Great Project That Never Was.<\/p>\n

* Faced with the choice between higher taxes and casino gambling, Alabama<\/strong> lawmakers may decide racinos are the lesser evil. At least that’s the hope of\u00a0Senate President Pro Tem \"Del<\/a>Del Marsh<\/strong>(R), who’s shepherded a lottery-plus-racinos bill through one committee. Meanwhile, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians<\/strong> continues to dangle a $250 million peace offering before the state, with gambling exclusivity being the trade-off. The money would a loan rather than revenue-sharing<\/a> … a novel arrangement, although revenue-sharing would be down the road as part of the compacting process.<\/p>\n

The Poarch Band (whose proposal would not preclude a lottery) have found an unlikely ally in\u00a0Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard<\/strong> (R), who evidently favors ratifying the tribe’s status quo<\/em> over expanding gambling elsewhere. Asks Poarch Band Vice Chair Robert McGhee<\/strong>,\u00a0\u201cThe tribe has always gone on record saying we\u2019re fine with the lottery. That\u2019s what we don\u2019t understand. The lottery, supposedly, by this study brings in $330 million.\u00a0Legalizing gaming to four tracks only brings in 70. Why are you doing this?\u201d The Poarch Band has made a mint off electronic bingo. It seems foolish of Alabama not to seek a share. Just think what the Creeks could do with Class III gaming.<\/p>\n

* Connecticut<\/strong> is flirting with a non-tribal casino, in the form of a slot parlor at Bobby V’s Sports Bar & Restaurant<\/strong>, in Windsor Locks<\/strong>. It’s in the Bradley Teletheate<\/strong>r, near Bradley \"Sayers\"<\/a>International Airport<\/strong>. (An abandoned cineplex nearby is also being considered.) Proponents like the idea of being able to grab customers fresh (?) off a plane flight, as opposed to relying on “boxes of slots” scattered along Connecticut’s interstates. An OTB parlor, Bobby V’s is run\u00a0by U.K.<\/strong>-based Sportech Venues<\/strong>. The company operates 15 OTB facilities in the state.\u00a0“To me, it’s a win-win situation here in Windsor Locks.\u00a0Gambling is in place; let’s just expand it to the slots,” says selectman\u00a0Steven N. Wawruck J<\/strong>r. He’s got a legislative ally in state Rep. Peggy Sayers<\/strong>. What he doesn’t have is time on his side. The Legislature adjourns in three weeks, potentially leaving the satellite-casino issue unresolved until next autumn or later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With so much Las Vegas Strip acreage either in flux (Tropicana Las Vegas, Hooters Casino Hotel) or newly on the market (“Project Jackpot”), CBRE Las Vegas has been moved to unleash 60.5 acres on Harmon Avenue that were the graveyard … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[135,149,140,153,69,6,111,31,9,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16074"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32063,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16074\/revisions\/32063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}