Bankrupt Casinos blight Las Vegas Strip

Steve Wynn, whose personal greed knows no bounds, is getting mighty testy about those skeletal casino buildings in Las Vegas, in spite of statistics that don't bode well for the Gambling Industry.

Las Vegas has the worst bankruptcy and foreclosure rates in the United States, so casino owners are edgy about the recession still clouding business in the city.



Las Vegas contractors have sued for unpaid work in a city with the highest unemployment in the U.S. (Officially, it’s 15 per cent; unofficially, it’s likely higher than 20 per cent, according to vocational experts.)


In Massachusetts, Beacon Hill leadership is waving the magic wand of Slot Barns and promising wondrous job creation to the delusional tune of 15,000 new jobs with 3 small Slot Barns.

These were Las Vegas' projections for luxury facilities:
Echelon = 10,000 jobs = Cost = $4.8 BILLION
Fontainbleau = 6,000 jobs = Cost = $2.9 BILLION (68 Stories)


‘See-through’ casinos blight Las Vegas Strip
Kathleen Kenna
Special to the Star


LAS VEGAS—Prepare for a battle of some of America’s richest men over desert ruins.

Billionaire Steve Wynn is so angry about unfinished “see-through” buildings on the famous Strip (Las Vegas Blvd.) that he’s preparing to sue.

But the casino mogul’s research so far shows there might be little he can do about two stalled projects, worth an estimated $8 billion, in the worst economy this city has suffered.

Las Vegas regulations do not punish anyone for leaving billions of dollars of unfinished business on The Strip, Wynn complained in an interview.

“The planning commission never had a rule about completion or removal—it’s extraordinary,” he said.

“There is no ordinance that says once you start a building, you have to finish it. We are all now taking action ... it can just stay there forever. It sure is a pain in the butt.”

Las Vegas has the worst bankruptcy and foreclosure rates in the United States, so casino owners are edgy about the recession still clouding business in the city.

They are also voicing private concerns about the addition of 3,000 rooms to an already-battered Strip, when the Cosmopolitan opens Dec. 15. That $3.9-billion project is the only major casino project opening in Las Vegas this year.

Wynn has been credited with spearheading the revival of the Vegas Strip in the 1990s with such projects as Bellagio, The Mirage and Treasure Island. He

is putting the finishing touches on a $200-million reno of Wynn, only five years after the luxury casino-hotel resort named for him opened.

Guests in $1,000-plus rooms in this ultra-makeover get spectacular views of the Mojave desert, some of the Strip’s neon, and mountains surrounding Las Vegas.

They also stare straight at the “see-through” hulk of Echelon, a $4.8-billion project stalled for two years, and the $2.9-billion Fontainebleau, apparently about 70-per-cent complete.

The low-level Echelon, owned by Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Inc., looks as though it’s rotting.

Echelon was touted as an “ultra-luxurious, uber-mega-resort” in 2006, before the historic Stardust was imploded to make way for a casino, four hotels with 5,300 rooms, 25 restaurants and bars, convention center, retail and more.

One of the few high-rises in Las Vegas, the 68-story Fontainebleau was supposed to open in 2007, but was stalled again and again by financing woes.

Fontainbleau’s original Miami owners, Turnberry Associates, filed for bankruptcy on the project last year, and billionaire Carl Icahn, known as a corporate raider, snagged it earlier this year for a reported $156 million.

The Miami bankruptcy judge declared, “This case is a total disaster.”

Las Vegas contractors have sued for unpaid work in a city with the highest unemployment in the U.S. (Officially, it’s 15 per cent; unofficially, it’s likely higher than 20 per cent, according to vocational experts.)

Echelon was promoted as producing 10,000 jobs, and Fontainebleau, 6,000, in a city dependent on tourism and construction.

Requests for comment from Boyd Gaming and Turnberry were unsuccessful.