{"id":7760,"date":"2011-10-20T16:10:40","date_gmt":"2011-10-21T00:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=7760"},"modified":"2020-03-11T06:44:42","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T14:44:42","slug":"colsux-theyre-outta-here-accord-in-motown-murren-changes-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/colsux-theyre-outta-here-accord-in-motown-murren-changes-course\/","title":{"rendered":"ColSux: They’re outta here!; Accord in Motown; Murren changes course"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Those last few remnants of Columbia Sussex<\/strong> CEO William J. Yung<\/strong>‘s former casino empire continue to topple about him. The Kentucky<\/strong>-based oligarch, whose properties are notorious for their poor working conditions and even worse maintenance, has been reaping a gargantuan load of karma ever since he over-leveraged his hotel company to buy Aztar Corp<\/strong>., the single most disastrous acquisition in the history of casino gambling. Yung hit town full of bluster about his superior operating methods (derived from his years supervising the Jergens Soap<\/strong> assembly line), demanding special dispensations from the Culinary Union<\/strong> and attempting to bully local journos<\/a> who didn’t toady to him.<\/p>\n

\"\"Years later, the thermonuclear fallout of Yung’s monetary overreach continues to claim non-Aztar properties as the parent company is characterized by lenders as “in financial peril.” Like a Vegas homeowner who’s underwater on his mortage, ColSux is skipping town<\/a>, abandoning the Westin Casuarina Las Vegas Hotel Casino & Spa<\/strong>, a year after it was served papers<\/a>. (Given that the WesCas has a 2.1X ratio of hotel rooms to employees, I’d to think what the service culture must be like there.) Interestingly, the property won’t lose its Westin flag<\/a>. Boston<\/strong>-based Pyramid Hotel Group<\/strong> is the probable new manager. It’s not a newcomer to the area: Pyramid runs Loews Lake Las Vegas<\/strong>, whose virtues include being the pet-friendliest hotel in town.<\/p>\n

\"\"ColSux got off on the right foot<\/strong> in 2002, reopening the dead Maxim<\/strong> after handsomely reskinning the building’s exterior. However, it stubbornly maintained some of the highest room rates on the Strip in the teeth of the Great Recession<\/strong> (thereby driving down occupancy) and they’re still staggeringly high, at least if booked through Starwood Resorts<\/strong> ($159 midweek). Leasing out its casino to a third-party operator may have also hastened the demise, outsourcing cash flow that might have otherwise helped pay the mortgage. Now ColSux’s presence in Nevada<\/strong> is reduced to a grind joint (above<\/em>) on Lake Tahoe<\/strong>, operated on a lease that owner Park Cattle<\/strong> has indicated will not be renewed. So long, schmucks.<\/p>\n

\"\"Peace in Detroit<\/strong>. Narrowly averting a city-wide strike, owners of MGM Grand Detroit<\/strong>, Motor City Casino<\/strong>, Greektown Casino<\/strong> (right<\/em>) and a consortium of labor unions have reached a “tentative” agreement. For employees’ sake, one hopes rumors of a three-year pay freeze<\/a> don’t bear fruit. Although the unions’ bargaining position appears considerably stronger than that of their brethren in Atlantic City<\/strong>, details of the labor accord could yet give the lie to that supposition.<\/p>\n

\"\"Christie saves?<\/strong> In deference to federal policy, New Jersey<\/strong> Gov. Chris Christie<\/strong> (R) has turned a deaf ear to the sports-betting-legalization efforts of state Sen. Raymond Lesniak<\/strong> (D). There are three good reasons for him to change his mind. One, it’s Atlantic City’s best hope for improving its fortunes. Two, sports betting continues to gain support among voters — especially GOP ones, getting ever closer to a supermajority. Third, attempting to force the issue in federal courts (even if the outcome is adverse) has greater potential efficacy than simply sitting by and doing nothing. It would be a pity were New Jersey to repeat its 1993 mistake, especially when the stakes are so much higher now.<\/p>\n

\"\"Speaking of Atlantic City<\/strong> … S&G<\/em> totally called this one. The phenomenon of “free-range casinos” in A.C. is quickly spreading from the Tropicana Atlantic City<\/strong> to Harrah’s Resort<\/strong> (right<\/em>) in the Marina District. Swim-up blackjack is such old news in Las Vegas<\/strong> that it must seem curious that it’s a revolutionary idea on the Boardwalk. The present crisis has spurred ingenuity, with both old-timers like Trump Entertainment Resorts<\/strong> CEO Robert Griffin<\/strong> and maverick Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> viceroy Don Marrandino<\/strong> thinking literally outside the box that is the casino floor. It also gives some of the participants a new marketing angle, since both the Harrah’s and Trop extensions would be smoke-free areas.<\/p>\n

\"\"In a 90-degree pivot<\/strong> from the overseas-looking strategy he laid out at Global Gaming Expo<\/strong>, the newest gambit of MGM Resorts International<\/strong> CEO Jim Murren<\/strong> takes the company to … Louisiana<\/strong>. Earlier today, MGM joined forces with Dan Lee<\/strong>‘s Creative Casinos<\/strong> to bankroll and manage the latter’s Mojito Pointe Casino<\/strong> project, on Lake Charles<\/strong>. While the dollar amount and equity percentage of MGM’s involvement are presently undisclosed, this “makes the financing process far smoother,” as Deutsche Bank<\/strong> analyst Carlo Santarelli<\/strong> pointed out, while noting that the pact is “not necessarily a needle mover for MGM.”<\/p>\n

\"\"But it does<\/em> get the company into a new jurisdiction and a lucrative market, picking up a nice little management-fee stream into the bargain (and saving Lee [left<\/em>] the trouble of having to assemble his own property team). It also couples Mojito Pointe to the M Life<\/strong> pipeline — and vice versa. Nearby rival Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong> suddenly becomes a smaller fish in its own pond. The 1,500-slot\/50-table casino is projected for a summer 2013 opening. Texas<\/strong> casinos and racinos continue to look like a distant pipe dream, so credit MGM for taking the quickest route to tapping that Lone Star State player base.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those last few remnants of Columbia Sussex CEO William J. Yung‘s former casino empire continue to topple about him. The Kentucky-based oligarch, whose properties are notorious for their poor working conditions and even worse maintenance, has been reaping a gargantuan … 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":[23,15,151,145,44,42,14,117,104,7,22,131,76,84,53,11,99,30,33,74,114,9,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760"}],"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=7760"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26338,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760\/revisions\/26338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}