Las Vegas Casino Death Watch

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Last updated: May 18, 2013

Recent News

5/18/13

Terrible's casino is changing its name to "The Silver Sevens". A name change makes sense, as it's no longer associated with the Herbst family, but the new name doesn't really ... grab us. Ah, well.

4/26/13

The Gold Spike will reopen in about two weeks! Only it will reopen without its casino. We're not sure this is a big loss to the Las Vegas community, as the casino consisted of a maximum of four table games, a few dozen slots and video poker machines, and a William Hill sports betting counter, but it means it no longer falls under the auspices of the Death Watch. This is good news to the couple of dozen employees who will be able to get back to work.

4/17/13

The Gold Spike may be closed, but the lawsuits have just begun. An employee has filed suit claiming that the Gold Spike's owner didn't give the required 60 day notice for closing the property. We can't find a news source who has actually looked into what's going on.

If they won't pick up the ball, the Death Watch will. Note, we're not labor lawyers and nothing we say here should be taken as a pronouncement by someone with, you know, expertise. However, it looks to us that the relevant regulation here is a federal law known as the WARN act. It says that a company with more than 100 people must provide 60 days notice before closing a facility if the shutdown will result in the loss of 50 or more full-time positions. The Las Vegas Sun suggests that less than 50 people lost their jobs, which would mean that the Gold Spike wouldn't have to provide notice.

Of course, there may be a state law, gaming regulation, or labor agreement that is in force that has different requirements. We hope someone with real knowledge will chime in, or failing that, a news source with actual resources *cough* will ask someone who knows what's going on here.

4/11/13

The Las Vegas Club is closing its hotel towers. Previously, they had only been open for weekend reservations, now they won't be open at all. We suppose this could be a prelude to a big upgrade as Tamares did with the Plaza, but they were trumpeting that upgrade to high heaven, this one, not so much. Our best guess would be that they're going Binion's, keeping the casino open but closing the rooms. What their long term plan is, we don't know.

4/11/13

Emergency Closing!
The Gold Spike is closing this Sunday! Given that the buyer has historically not been involved in gaming, this very well may be the end of that property as a casino. If you want to get a last look at the place, start heading that way now.

3/21/13

We have a buyer for the shuttered Western Hotel downtown. It's a group working with entrepreneur Tony Hsieh, of Zappos fame, as part of his downtown revitalization project. Will they use this lot for gaming, or for something else? We haven't heard yet.

3/18/13

We have more information about the Fate of Bill's. The remodeled property will be called Gansevoort Las Vegas. The reason for this is that Caesars has engaged the Gansevoort Hotel Group as a partner in this project. It is schedule to reopen in early 2014. Its target customer is up market.

3/18/13

We have a more plausible opening target for SLS, fall of 2014. We wish them luck.

3/12/13

Construction is progressing at SLS. They're making real progress here, aiming for an early 2014 opening. It will be nice to see another property open on the north end of the Strip.

3/4/13

Looks like construction is about to start at the Echelon site, but it won't be Boyd building the new property. Boyd is selling the site to Genting Group, a big name in Asian gambling. Of course it will be a while before the sale is finalized, and they the Genting folks need to get their ducks in a row before construction starts, but we may see some activity on this site before too long.

2/20/13

Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal brings us an interesting article about where MGM Resorts stands. Summary points: They lost $1.2 billion last quarter, but a lot of that was writing off the value of depreciated assets. They're willing to sell some of their properties, and folks have talked about the Crystals shopping mall at CityCenter. They still owe $1.85 on their share of CityCenter.

2/14/13

We now have a projected time frame for the opening of the SLS on the site of the former Sahara. This seems to be slated for the fall of 2014. They've apparently got the $400 million in financing all set up and groundbreaking will begin any day now, although apparently that hasn't happened yet.

2/12/13

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on progress at the Downtown Grand. We hear more about what the place will be like, but little more on what specifically has been done or anything more than that it will open "later this year". It's nice that progress, even vague progress, is being made here and we wish them luck.

2/4/13

Casino closing: Bill's
Bill's closes today for significant renovations and conversion into a boutique hotel. We really don't have an idea when it will reopen or if it will keep the same name.

12/28/12

The new owners are making some changes at Hooters. Going through the list, these don't seem all that substantive to us, but once they're committed to spending money on changes, it means they're going to see if it works for a while. So, one way or another, we expect a year from now it to still be called Hooters and still be open.

12/05/12

Is anyone surprised that the final resolution of what to do with the Harmon Hotel has been pushed back by legal wrangling? Not us. Steve Green of Vegas Inc. reports that the trial regarding defects on the Harmon has been pushed back to January 2014.

11/29/12

Bill's Gamblin' Hall is slated to close on February 4, for a major renovation. The property is scheduled to reopen in early 2014 with a new name and theme. So, if you want your Bill's souvenirs, it's time to make plans to visit this spot before it goes away to re-emerge as some new thing.

11/20/12

Work has begun on the Downtown Grand! This is the new name for the property that used to be the Lady Luck. Allegedly, they will sink $100 million in to the place, and it is scheduled to open in late 2013. As always, we wish luck to those who are building a new place, and we hope they build something compelling.

11/20/12

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has an article about the new SLS nee Sahara. We read about a lot of plans, which we always take with a grain of salt. The key for us is two sentences in the article. First, "Initially, work on the redevelopment was scheduled to begin at the end of the summer." Second, "... SBE plans to make an announcement on groundbreaking for redevelopment within a few weeks." They claim to have the financing set up, but as loyal readers of this site know, until the first shovel hits the ground, and until the heavy machinery shows up to stay, we retain a certain amount of skepticism.

11/09/12

Do we have a new name for the temporarily named LVH? Could it be a variant of the old name, Vegas International Casino + Hotel? We really don't understand why folks there would outright deny this if they really plan to rename it. Stay tuned.

10/31/12

Tonight the LVH officially changes hands. It will no longer be owned by Colony Capital, but is now the property of a partnership between Goldman Sachs and Gramercy Capital. We don't expect to see major changes soon, but we'll be carefully tracking the direction in which the property heads from here.

10/18/12

More from the "General Franco is Still Dead" file, Boyd Gaming reports that they have no current plans to restart development on Echelon. They do plan to add a "decorative wrap" to the project's skeletal remains.

10/10/12

"So, when will the demolition of the Harmon occur?" we are asked all the time. Our answer, probably no time soon. Stay tuned.

10/03/12

Caesars Entertainment reports that they will begin a $110 million upgrade to Bill's that includes a name change. That's cool, it could use an upgrade, but the real news as far as the Death Watch is concerned is that this means there will be no plans to implode the building for at least a decade.

09/20/12

Congratulations to the Golden Gate for completing their big renovation. They have new rooms, an expanded casino floor, a new lobby, and a restored facade. So, maybe it's still not Aria, but we like the fact that folks have expended the energy to fix up a building that has been occupying that spot for over 100 years.

09/17/12

The Imperial Palace is getting a new name. Henceforth, it shall be known as the Quad Resort & Casino. No, really. Yes, that's really the name. It will be known as the IP until December, but the new sign won't go up until they redo the whole Strip facing portion of the property, which should happen some time late in 2013. So, if you want to get some souvenir Imperial Palace gear, and why wouldn't you, now is the time to do it. If you want your Quad Resort gear, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few months. See if you can hold out that long.

08/30/12

It looks like there may be a path for LVH. It sounds we're on the verge of a deal that would have chief creditor, Goldman Sachs, take control of the property. Even though the noises coming from the powers that be indicate that LVH will continue to operate under the new regime, Vegas Inc. reports that workers there received notification that might indicate a radical change of staffing is in the works, or possibly even a closure. This seems unlikely to us, but it is possible. In any case, as always, our hearts at the Death Watch are with the many people who work there.

08/27/12

VegasInc/Las Vegas Sun reports that Cosmo and the MGM properties had a good second quarter. This is news because these are two of the entities folks have been most concerned about. Of course, the article doesn't actually post Cosmo's results or link to their article that does, but we'll do that leg work for you. As it turns out, it lost less than $19 million, compared to about $54 million in the same quarter a year ago.

The numbers are telling a bunch of different stories at the same time, but what they are telling us is that even though casinos still struggle to service the debt load they took on during the boom years, things haven't been getting worse and the companies run rates are mostly in the black. This means we don't expect to see a lot of outright closings, at least not among the bigger names.

08/14/12

This is a little bit below our normal reporting threshold, but Jerry's Nugget in North Las Vegas has filed Chapter 11. It has been a slow news month. The place is not exactly a vacation destination property, but it does have a decent and reasonably priced coffee shop, with an attached bakery that is one of the better ones in town. They also typically have the best football parlay card odds in town.

07/20/12

The demolition of the contested Harmon Hotel has been given the green light to be demolished by owners MGM Resorts. They still need to get the permits in place, the is still some testing to be done as part of the civil suit regarding its construction, and the construction company is expected to appeal. At the same time, expect MGM to try to get this done as quickly as possible. We have no idea what the timetable might be.

07/13/12

Vegas Inc., let's us know that folks have been laid off at the LVH. Not too surprising under the circumstances, but not a good sign. The property continues under a court-appointed operator while it passes through foreclosure. We've heard folks have been by to kick the tires, but it's unlikely anything serious will happen, or at least be announced, until after the foreclosure proceedings are resolved.

07/11/12

Through some, frankly, miraculous events, the Death Watch has been returned to its former glory. Again, this is a long and strange tale that we won't go into now. Maybe some day. In the mean time, the Death Watch, the book reviews, the articles, everything is pretty much back to the way it should be. There are still a few items to clean up, but it's all back.

07/06/12

The RJ informs us that Moody's has cut the Riviera's debt rating from Caa1 to Caa2. It's the second time the rating has been cut so far this year. Part of this downgrade is because with the sale of the casino in Colorado, all of Riviera's eggs are in one basket. Part of the downgrade is because the Riviera just isn't doing very well.

06/27/12

The JW Marriot Las Vegas Resort & Spa, which occupies the same location as the Rampart casino, might be changing hands. The owner defaulted. An outside entity wants to buy up the debt at a discount to its face value, and a judge ruled that they could. Will this transfer actually occur? Maybe. Does this affect the casino? Only peripherally, as that's run by a different entity.

06/14/12

The Las Vegas Casino Death Watch is back after a forced absence. Yeah, there isn't much to show for it right now, and perhaps some day we'll regale the public with our sad stories of the death of web sites, but we're working on slowly rebuilding the site. This will take a long time, but (a) we're back on the air, and (b) we will be updating this site with new information as we hear it. So, there's that.

05/23/12

Okay, this has nothing to do with casino openings and closings, but the editorial board here at the Death Watch can't resist a good story about the late Bob Stupak, so here goes. In this case it's a story about the slivers of moon rock he used to display at Vegas World, the precursor to the Stratosphere hotel. It's also vintage Stupak in every way.