After agreeing to offload its remaining 11.2% stake in Melco Resorts And Entertainment Limited earlier this month, Australian casino operator Crown Resorts Limited has now reportedly completely given up on its plan to build a $2 billion integrated casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
According to a report from The Australian newspaper, Melbourne-based Crown Resorts Limited first announced plans to build its Alon Las Vegas scheme in 2014 and the development had been set to feature a 50,000 sq ft casino offering just over 1,100 table and electronic gaming seats as well as a 80,000 sq ft pool area, a 65,000 sq ft ballroom, a 56,000 sq ft nightclub and more than 160,000 square feet of retail space.
However, the newspaper reported that Crown Resorts Limited canceled their participation in the Las Vegas project in December while today has seen the firm engage commercial real estate firm CBRE to offload the 35-acre parcel of land on which the 1,100-room Alon Las Vegas was to be built.
“Crown [Resorts Limited] will now be more focused on driving greater returns in Australia and ensuring the company is well prepared to deliver Crown Sydney in 2021,” read a statement from Crown Resorts Limited.
The Australian reported that the site on Las Vegas Boulevard, which sits opposite the luxury Wynn Las Vegas casino resort and just north of the Fashion Show Mall, features about 1,300 feet of Las Vegas Strip frontage and traded for approximately $894 million in 2007.
John Knott, Executive Vice-President for CBRE, told the newspaper that the land, which was once home to the New Frontier Hotel And Casino until its demolition in 2007, “is one of the most exciting properties to become available in Las Vegas in a long time”.
The Australian reported that Crown Resorts Limited purchased the Nevada land through a subsidiary in 2014 before partnering with Andrew Pascal, the former President for Wynn Las Vegas, and investments firm Oaktree Capital Management in hopes of opening the Alon Las Vegas by 2018. But, the firms struggled to secure sufficient funding for the development and now hope to recoup at least $400 million for the land.