Yesterday James Packer's Crown Limited bought 100% of Cannery Casino Resorts, for $1.8 billion in cash. The acquisition includes the Cannery in North Las Vegas and the $250 million Eastside Cannery, which is being built to replace the Nevada Palace on Boulder Highway. Cannery also manages the Rampart Casino in the JW Marriott in Summerlin. They also own a temporary casino next to the Meadows Racetrack outside Pittsburgh. The company is building a $155 million permanent facility at the racetrack. The Cannary was 58% owned by Bill Paulos and William Wortman. According to a post on the twowayhardthree blog, Paulos worked for Kerry Packer in the 1990s, and was in charge of the Crown Melbourne when it opened. Paulos and Wortman will stay with the company for at least two years. So it seems these are people Packer already knows and it's his way of getting some experienced Las Vegas management on his team so he'll be ready for the bigger projects on the Strip. And also this way he will be licensed in Nevada way before the Strip properties are finished.

Any news? Deader than a mackerel? Indefinitely stalled?

according to the sydney morning herald, this proposal is now officially dead. :(



source: http://business.smh.com.au/packer-de...0326-21lo.html

Packer dealt a dead hand in Vegas
Michael West
March 26, 2008 - 7:39PM
Page 1 of 2

Just when his Crown Macau casino is coming good, James Packer's US game plan has been dealt a dead hand. The Crown chairman had planned to build one of the world's tallest buildings on an old waterworks site on Las Vegas's famed ''Strip''.

But the site earmarked for the $US5 billion Las Vegas Towers resort project is now up for sale. For a $7.5 billion company, the looming loss of an option for another casino development is small beer, in fact - apart from the discomfort of a dud deal - it may be a blessing in disguise. Packer spent and borrowed big at the top of the market last year, and like many others on a debt-fuelled buying streak, now appears to be reconsidering his pace of expansion.

<snip>

On the Las Vegas deal, James Packer and his US partner in the project, Chris Milam, had already made around $A100 million in payments to Archon Corp which owns the site on the Vegas "Strip.'' Real estate agent, CBRE confirmed today the site was up for sale. Some $US63 million has been reported to be non-refundable and some $US30 million was not going to the purchase price, according to Crikey's Glenn Dyer, who had been following the story.

A spokesman for Crown said there had been a strategic review of the asset which was still underway.

The pending sale, though, may be viewed positively by the market given the credit climate and concerns about subsidiaries' debt levels. Although gaming is a defensive business, the Las Vegas economy has been slugged hard by the housing crisis and faces the prospect of a US recession later this year.

Packer had originally been proposing to build one of the world's tallest buildings - at some 1800 feet - but local concerns over the site's proximity to the airport saw the plans scaled back to a height of 1063 feet.

Milam had taken an option over the site in June 2006. Packer tipped in $US22.5 million for a 37.5% interest in the project.

Crown is also funding the Fontainebleau Hotel Casino in Vegas with US group Turnberry. The Fontainebleau is under construction next door to the site Packer has with Milam.

Rip

Wow I wish I owned a piece of property that someone would pay me US$63 million in non refundable downpayment and then decide not to buy. SWEET!

$63M is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

Good news.

So its done. I didnt like the design, but always up for another tower, but a nice looking one though...

:cool:

thank goodness, that thing was horrendous!

Hey! Never say never!

http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/36697389.html

^
Its not gonna get built....not in this economy...

Yeah, if something is even built, it will not be the same project and this:

Hints at that.

Im glad this didnt get built. Its atrocious and was it not supposed to be about 2000 ft tall when it began?

^^^1,888ft, actually.

wasent so bad was it? i think it was rather cool and its really strange that vegas hasent really looked up into the skies yet and went past 200 meters whit a sleek and beautiful building i think the city really needs somethign like this or even better the towers from the oceans thritheen movie the twisting twin towers

theese ones http://m.blog.hu/an/anyafold/image/13/Oceans13tower.jpg

Rip milan tower