In an interview with the LA Times, Sahara 'operator' Sam Nazarian claims that the plan all along was to close the hotel for renovations and for it to re-open in 2014 as "SLS Las Vegas, with six restaurants and two nightclubs".
"We've spent $30 million in design development drives; we're shovel-ready," said Nazarian, who formed his company in 2002 with proceeds from real estate investments as well as a wireless telecommunications company he sold. "If we were admitting defeat we would have admitted it."
http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-nightclubs-20110413,0,5536847.story
Uh-huh. A few questions:
- What exactly has he spent $30 million on designing?
- Why no mention of the secret plan when the resort's closing was announced?
- How much will this renovation cost? He's only got three years so unless he's not going for major upgrades, work had better start by the end of 2011 if he wants to make 2014.
- Who is going to lend him this money and put cash into a North Strip property that is neighbors to a dirt lot and the ugliest unfinished building in America?
As Jeff said on Twitter - "I'm skeptical. Very."
Comments
A few years ago I saw some of the renderings for the upgrades when I was in executive offices. They looked nice. I don't know exactly how far along in the process they were, but $30 million seems like a lot of money to spend before doing any work.
Did you catch the part about SBE getting a $30M infusion from Colony Capital (i.e. the kiss of doom). Sam is all about hyping his conglomeration of entities until he cashes out with an IPO. I'm sure Colony's investment was to keep him afloat until that happens.
Rohit Joshi sounds very similar when he talks about Neonopolis. I've noticed that some men cannot make a miscalculation, ever. No matter what happens, it was part of their plan all along.
I've also noticed that the widely reported purchase price of $400 million for the Sahara is now an estimated $300 million.
Forget the Sahara...this article says they are opening Papaya King in LA. Haha.