Las Vegas Business Press :: Guest Columnist : Where art thou Lady Luck?

Where art thou Lady Luck?

There was an important anniversary this month in downtown Las Vegas, but don't feel bad if you didn't send flowers.

Feb. 12 marked two years since the Lady Luck's owners shut down the hotel-casino, displacing nearly 700 workers and leaving one of downtown's most visible properties a lifeless shell.

A lot of behind-the-scenes maneuvering has taken place to get the Lady Luck up and running again, but there is very little visible progress to show for it.

Guest Columnist

Benjamin Spillman
Tourism Insider

That the property is still boarded up a year after the Henry Brent Co. promised it would be open is grating to some downtown enthusiasts.

"The biggest mistake that was made on that block was closing down the casino," said Paul Murad, president of Metroplex Group, a Las Vegas commercial real estate development and brokerage firm.

Murad is among a number of critics who say closing the casino made the task of renovating it harder, not easier, by cutting off the cash flow.

"It could have easily operated and continued to bring in revenue," Murad said.

The public may never know whether closing the casino made problems worse for the Lady Luck.

But it is clear Andrew Donner of Henry Brent Co., later called Downtown Resorts, had a hard time getting money to fund the renovation. Donner made a number of appeals to the City Council for more time to negotiate with lenders.

Eventually Donner hooked up with CIM Group of Hollywood, Calif., who agreed to buy into the project and take over the renovation.

CIM brought credibility in the form of a $4 billion urban real estate portfolio and a connection with the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS.

"They've done really well in the L.A. market," Murad said. "They've got relationships with retailers that will be key."

After taking over Lady Luck in July, John Given of CIM promised the council the project would be "on the fastest track to turn the lights back on."

At the time, Given said the project could be complete in 2009. But he hasn't spoken publicly on the subject since and didn't return a call for comment on progress or about negotiations with the city for CIM to front money for a mob museum under construction in the old post office near the site. City officials say the money could help the museum open in conjunction with a revived Lady Luck.

In the meantime the Lady Luck, which holds a prominent spot in the downtown skyline, sits vacant.

• • •

Business travelers in Las Vegas just got another excuse to run up the company credit card on cigars and bottle service.

Harrah's, whose Las Vegas empire is now anchored by Caesars on the Strip, will let event organizers apply purchases at all its properties to one food and beverage minimum.

It sounds like inside baseball, but the move could have repercussions for tipped employees and banquet workers on and off the Strip.

Here's how it works: In 2005, following the merger with Caesars Entertainment, Harrah's established a "one contract, one contact" policy for events. The move essentially allowed a meeting or convention planner to rendezvous with a Harrah's representative and organize events at any Harrah's property in town.

Earlier this month, Harrah's announced it would broaden the program to include the food and beverage minimum. That means meeting and event planners can add events at ballrooms, bars, clubs or restaurants throughout Harrah's empire in Las Vegas without having to worry about minimum spending requirements.

• • •

Much of Las Vegas is betting a cheap dollar will encourage more international visits and partially offset the impact of the looming recession.

But America's official attitude toward guests isn't helping, according to a column last month in the United Kingdom's biggest newspaper, The Sunday Times.

The first paragraph states flatly, "Don't go to the USA," and the column gets harsher from there.

Columnist Matt Rudd warns readers about security procedures that include "an outside chance of a rubber-gloved rectal rummage," and suggests Iran and North Korea would be more hospitable destinations.

Certainly, there are plenty of foreign tourists coming to Las Vegas who would consider Rudd's rant hyperbolic.

That doesn't mean no one is listening to the cries from across the pond. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority recently sent a delegation to Washington D.C. to press for more tourism-friendly visitation policies and procedures.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman was part of the delegation. Goodman summed up the experience with a quip during a recent press conference.

"It is hard to get them here because it is so hard," Goodman said of foreign visitors. "When they arrive here they are treated as if they are not welcome."

Benjamin Spillman writes for the Business Press' sister publication, the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 477-3861.

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