What a difference a year makes for American Casino & Entertainment Properties. Twelve months ago it was losing $9 million. In 3Q14, it posted a $600K profit. The reversal was achieved, in part, by squeezing customers with higher room rates and resort fees. Interestingly, a department not credited with driving profitability was the casino floor. Indeed, casino revenue was almost flat at the Stratosphere while room revs ascended 8%. The popular Sky Jump also helped drive improved performance. And never discount the power of bingo, which was credited for a 2% growth in casino revenue at ACEP’s two Arizona Charlie’s properties.
* Thanks, no doubt, to the absence of a gaming entitlement, Station Casinos took a bath on 101 acres of Reno real estate. The company still has two other, gaming-entitled sites in Reno, so it’s not done with the market by any means.
* Columbia Sussex‘s efforts to dispose of a failed Kentucky casino project hit another snag when the Covington Urban Design Review Board voted unanimously to deny ColSux’s request to tear down the Bavarian Brewery. The board sided with the point of view of local resident Sue Puffenberger, who said, “I know Columbia Sussex took a calculated risk when they bought the building, and unfortunately it was an investment that did not pan out for them. I don’t think residents of Northern Kentucky should pay the penalty for that.” The company was also faulted for setting a sale price — $7 million — on the brewery that the market evidently won’t bear.
ColSux has the option of appealing the decision to the Covington City Commission. In the meantime, the company has vowed to work with Covington to find a use for or otherwise market the brewery.
* As promised, MGM Resorts International paid its $85 million license fee to Massachusetts on Nov. 17. The transfer was made electronically, without the tacky ceremony of presenting a giant, mock-up check — as done by Wynn Resorts, in a stunt more worthy of Publishers Clearing House.
