Siena closes casino floor

Siena closes casino floor

The Siena Hotel Spa Casino temporarily closed its gaming operations on Friday, building a 6-foot wall on its gaming floor around most of its slot machines. The property's hotel, restaurants, spa and sports book remain open.


The Siena filed for bankruptcy protection in Northern California in August -- a strategic move to keep the downtown resort property open while a deal to bring in a partner to help run the property can be finalized.

The Siena's overall debt could be as much as $100 million, according to papers filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oakland, Calif.

Siena officials could not be reached for comment but issued a news release Friday afternoon announcing that Innovation Capital LLC will serve as its financial adviser to assist the property "in its restructuring discussions with creditors and to pursue various strategic alternatives including securing short-term financing."

"In order to focus on reorganization activities and explore strategic and operational alternatives, Siena has taken the short-term step of closing its gaming floor to customers. The news release said Siena intends, however, to continue providing uninterrupted services to its valued customers in its hotel, restaurants, spa and meeting facilities."

Siena employees on Friday were telling guests and customers the gaming area was closed for renovation.

Joe Santos of Burlingame, Calif., said the Siena was his favorite place in Reno, until it removed the craps tables, because it has some of the nicest rooms in town and he likes the restaurant. The Siena closed its table games in June.
"If they have to renovate, they have to renovate. As long as they renovate for the better," he said.

Dennis Neilander, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said the Siena requested temporary closure of its gaming operations. Its sports book will remain open because it is run by the Club Cal Neva of Reno under a separate license.

"They decided to shut down (their) gaming operation and take that bankroll to other obligations as part of steps to make the property viable," Neilander said.

As a condition of granting the temporary closure, the gaming control board required the Siena to maintain enough cash to pay any outstanding tickets, Neilander said.

Gaming was shut down about 4 a.m. Friday, and agents from the board were on hand to observe the final drop about 6 a.m.

Neilander said the Siena is working on proposals to redo the slot floor.

"I think they decided this was the best course of action," he said.
Temporary closures are done by quarter.

The approval runs through the end of this quarter. If the Siena wants to remain closed for another quarter, they can make another request.

Jeff Siri, CEO and president of the Cal Neva, said it will continue to keep the sports book in the Siena open.

"Our sports book's done OK business today, surprisingly," he said, noting the wall that had been placed around the slot machines. "Hopefully we can spruce up the area and stay active. If they can keep the hotel business open, I think it could do OK."

Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said as of 3 p.m. he hadn't spoken with anyone at the Siena yet but had heard it closed the gaming to do a renovation.

"I'm just hoping they're not closing," he said.

Cashell said with other downtown properties shuttered, suspending gaming operations at the Siena could have a negative impact on the city as far as attracting investors.

Expert's insights

The closure, however, isn't likely to have a significant impact on the region's gaming win, said Bill Eadington, a professor of economics and director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno.

"The industry is over capacity at present, it's contracted nearly 25 percent in the last five years," Eadington said. "The closure is not terribly surprising. Customers who would go to the Siena will go elsewhere. There are plenty of empty slot machines to find. It's disappointing for owners and employees, but the handwriting has been on the wall for the Siena for some time."

Eadington said the Siena faced challenges that would make it difficult to succeed despite the economy, such as its location in a rough neighborhood and no partnerships with other properties.

"There are a lot of fundamentals you can point to that say this is a difficult operation under normal times. That's why there's not much surprise in this," he said.




Siena Hotel Spa Casino

•2001: Siena opened in 2001 after a $16 million to $20 million makeover of the former Holiday Hotel-Casino.

•December 2009: The Siena received a notice of default and threat of foreclosure sale from its California-based lender, Bar-K Inc., of Lafayette, Calif., citing an original loan of $50 million.

•March 11, 2010: After three months of reorganization to stave off foreclosure, the Siena plans a big comeback with a new Club Cal Neva sports book. A new nightclub, The Loft, would open in early April, Siena executives said.

•June 11: The Siena announces that it will close down all table games, eliminating about 35 jobs.

•June 22: The Siena faces suspension of its license after several months of delinquency in room tax payments. The Siena owes $135,469 in room taxes from January, March, April and May.

•July 2: The Nevada Gaming Commission gives the Siena a stay of execution on the suspension of its gaming license. Under the order, the Siena must retain $230,000, or an amount determined by a formula based on its casino operations, to pay winners. If it fails to have that amount on hand, it faces immediate closure by state Gaming Control Board agents.
Additionally, the commission orders all casino tax and fee obligations totaling about $150,000 must be paid by July 22.

•July 15: Health-insurance coverage for employees and former employees at the Siena "” which was terminated on June 1 by Hometown Health Providers "” will be reinstated by July 29 if Siena pays its debt to the health-insurance provider. Affected parties receive letters from Hometown Health informing them that their insurance coverage had been canceled, catching many by surprise.

•July 23: The Siena files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a strategic move to keep the downtown resort property open while a deal to bring in a partner to help run the property can be finalized. The Siena's overall debt could be as much as $100 million, according to papers filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oakland, Calif.

•Friday: The Siena temporarily shuts down its gaming operations and announces it will work with Innovation Capital, LLC to assist the property in restructuring.
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal archives, research