James Packer to build casino on site of New Frontier Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard
BILLIONAIRE Australian casino mogul James Packer is returning to Las Vegas to build a new casino on the world famous gambling strip.
BILLIONAIRE Australian casino mogul James Packer is returning to Las Vegas to build a new casino on the world famous gambling strip.
Packer’s $12 billion Crown Resorts Ltd announced on the ASX today that it will be building the new casino on the site of the New Frontier casino on Las Vegas Boulevard, which was demolished in 2007.
Crown Resorts has already spent $280 million on the project, including buying the property.
It will be building the casino in partnership with Andrew Pascal, former President and COO of Wynn Las Vegas, with financial support from Oaktree Capital Management.
Oaktree is a world leader specializing in debt based investments, with $91.1 billion in assets under management and has over 850 employees in 16 cities worldwide.
They will form a new resort company which has acquired a controlling interest in the 34.6-acre New Frontier parcel of land on Las Vegas Boulevard, which is widely regarded as the most valuable slice of undeveloped real estate in the gambling town.
Mr Packer said: “You can’t be in the gaming industry and not have a special reverence for Las Vegas – that’s where it all began.”
“As we have built Crown Resorts into a thriving international company with successful casino ventures in Australia, Macau, and London, we’ve always kept our eye on Las Vegas.
“And while we fell short in past attempts to enter that market, we now have the ideal
opportunity - with a great local partner in Andrew, a leading financial investor in Oaktree, and
the perfect piece of property.”
Packer will be co-chair of the new company with Pascal who will also be the CEO.
Las Vegas, the home of gambling, has previously eluded Packer who was burnt in a failed foray into the market just as the Global Financial Crisis struck.
But as Crown’s financial position has strengthened he has shown interest in returning to the heart of gambling, and was reported to be considering bidding for the Cosmopolitan casino earlier this year.
Crown already has a major casino in Macau, where its Melco Crown joint venture is looking at developing new casinos in the Philippines and Macau. Packer is also looking at spending $400 million on a casino in Colombo in Sri Lanka and is in talks to develop one in Japan.
The Las Vegas casino will be built on one of the most famous sites on Las Vegas Boulevard, where the Frontier Casino, the second casino built on the strip, operated from 1942 to 2007.
Others have had their eyes on it with the owners of the Plaza Hotel considering building a replica of their New York icon there before abandoning the idea in 2011. Donald Trump bought a 3.5ha parcel of the site to build a condominium hotel.
While the plans for the new development are still being finalised, the company expects to start work in the latter part of 2015 with an expected completion in 2018, which should coincide with the conclusion of his Sydney casino at Barangaroo.
Crown is the majority partner in the venture and has already invested $280 million in the casino project, which is being built on land that was bought in a foreclosure auction. The Crown share price dipped slightly as news of the announcement reached the market.
It is another major step into the US market for Packer, whose movie company RatPac set up with pal Brett Ratner has had major successes with George Clooney hit Gravity and The Lego Movie.
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