Hooters sold (again); Fat lady sings for Opera House

If someone with deep pockets wants to gamble on a big recovery on the Las Vegas Strip, then Spectrum Group Management would like to have a chat with them. Spectrum
holds title to optimistically slugged “Project Jackpot,” just north of MGM Grand. The collection of commercial properties, described as “a hodgepodge of shopping, parking lots, chain restaurants and a motel” was written down to $220 million in 2008 and is probably even cheaper now, given the deflation of land prices on the Strip. If the location sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because it was to be the site of Robert F.X. Sillerman‘s high-end, Elvis-themed megaresort. That project not only never got off the ground, Sillerman’s acreage went into receivership and was taken over by Spectrum. But between Genting Group‘s $4 billion-dollar Resorts World Las Vegas in progress and James Packer‘s $2.3 billion Elan lurking in the wings, it’s an open question how much more high-end product the Strip can absorb. Unlike Genting and Packer, however, Spectrum is closer to the Strip’s center of gravity.

At any rate, Vegas’ recovery must be real if somebody would pay $54 million for the rattletrap Hooters Casino Hotel. The Las Vegas Sun has the pertinent details, including the expected demise of the Holiday Inn rebranding. It’s a big score for ex-owner Canyon Capital Advisors, which acquired the property with a credit bid. New owners Trinity Hotel Investors had better be prepared to invest heavily in Hooters’ sagging physical plant, which is long overdue for implosion.

* At last week’s ceremonial groundbreaking for Resorts World, executives of Genting Group found themselves upstaged by Steve Wynn‘s fashionably late arrival. Wynn has been copious in his lip service to the project but reportedly managed to irk Genting CEO K.T. Lim all the same.

* According to LVA Research Department, the Opera House casino in lovely North Las Vegas has been razed to make way for a from-the-ground-up Dotty’s. The latter must be feeling its oats, as this is a dramatic departure from its cost-conscious, buy-and-convert expansion strategy.

* Things are looking up in Missouri, where casino revenues rose 2% last month. Pinnacle Entertainment was the biggest winner, beating Wall Street estimates with 9% growth at River City, 3% at Ameristar St. Charles and 5% at Ameristar Kansas City. Some of that prosperity came at Penn National Gaming‘s expense, as the latter suffered a 2% dip at Hollywood Casino St. Louis but gained 2% in Kansas City at Argosy Riverside. Isle of Capri Kansas City also got into the act, rising 3% but Harrah’s North Kansas City slipped 3%. According the Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli, foot traffic was down 2% in the Show-Me State but spending rose 4%. Isle prospered at all its properties, including a 7% jump at Lady Luck in Caruthersville, but Tropicana Entertainment still hasn’t solved the problem that is Lumiere Place, 3% down for the month.