{"id":5781,"date":"2011-02-15T16:00:23","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T00:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=5781"},"modified":"2011-02-15T16:00:23","modified_gmt":"2011-02-16T00:00:23","slug":"marina-trump-out-tilman-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/marina-trump-out-tilman-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Marina: Trump out, Tilman in"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Our long national nightmare is over. Trump Entertainment Resorts<\/strong> has finally unloaded that pariah known as Trump Marina<\/strong> and for a pittance<\/a>: $38 million. Just when it looked like Trump couldn’t give the place away, Landry’s Restaurants<\/strong> CEO Tilman Fertitta<\/strong> swooped in and snatched it. A somewhat Pyrrhic victory for Trump is also a defeat for Colony Capital<\/strong>, which attempted to unload the heavily encumbered Atlantic City Hilton<\/strong> to Fertitta, who thought better of it.<\/p>\n

That transaction would have made historical and sentimental sense, since the Hilton was once a Golden Nugget<\/strong>. And, yes, Fertitta is going to put the Nugget brand<\/a> on Trump Marina. (Nicholas Ribis<\/strong>‘ apparent desire to rebrand the Hilton the “New Nugget<\/strong>” is not only hilariously anachronistic, it would probably run headfirst into a Fertitta lawsuit.) Casino pitchman Donald Trump<\/strong> put the best face on the sale he could but there’s no question that this particular ship sailed a long time ago. It’s “wonderful” only for Fertitta, although it means that Trump Taj Mahal<\/strong> now has to subsidize one money-bleeding casino (Trump Plaza<\/strong>) instead of two, so there’s a little upside for everybody (well, except Colony, as usual).<\/p>\n

\"\"There’s also no reason<\/strong> to doubt Fertitta’s pledge to aggressively reinvest<\/a>, far beyond the $50 million bandied about by all-hat\/n0-cowboy suitor Richard Fields<\/strong>. He did that, in the face of skepticism, at downtown Vegas’ Golden Nugget and the result is a destination-quality property … something that Atlantic City<\/strong> desperately needs. Tilman (left<\/em>) is also in the right neighborhood: Proximity to top performers Borgata<\/strong> and Harrah’s Marina<\/strong> could help him build critical mass around the Nugget-to-be (although said vicinity wasn’t any great assistance during the casino’s Trump-owned years).<\/p>\n

Fertitta’s impatience to begin work might seem rash but, unlike some other companies, Landry’s ought to be a shoo-in with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission<\/strong>. If they want owners who are committed to maintain first-class properties, they’ve found the right man.<\/p>\n

\"\"Who Are They Kidding Dept<\/strong>. Noteholders for the Hilton, meanwhile, have set sail for Never-Never Land. They’re seeking as much as $75 million for the oft-renamed casino<\/a>. Seriously, after Trump Marina and Resorts Atlantic City<\/strong> changed hands for a combined<\/em> $70 million, who’d think they could get as much or more for the Hilton all by its lonesome? Financier Houlihan Lokey<\/strong>‘s notion of the place’s value isn’t as delusional as was Colony CEO Tom Barrack<\/strong>‘s but it seems mighty darn optimistic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our long national nightmare is over. Trump Entertainment Resorts has finally unloaded that pariah known as Trump Marina and for a pittance: $38 million. Just when it looked like Trump couldn’t give the place away, Landry’s Restaurants CEO Tilman Fertitta … 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":[23,60,3,28,42,14,7,25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781"}],"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=5781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5783,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions\/5783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}