Tahoe's
Cal-Neva sold to investors for $30 million
As
reported by the Associated Press
CRYSTAL
BAY, Nevada - The Cal-Neva Resort on the north side
of Lake Tahoe has been sold to Arizona investors for $30
million.
Owner
Chuck Bluth, who owned the Crystal Bay casino for 20 years,
said the property was sold Wednesday to a newly formed
company in Phoenix called Namcal.
Bluth
said the owners plan to continue developing time shares
at the resort, part of Bluth's initial $20 million remodel
project. The deal will become a joint venture between
his construction company and the corporation.
"They
plan to bring the facility up to a four-diamond rating,"
Bluth said. "They'll renovate rooms to bring it up
to that level."
Bluth
said he decided to sell the property because he was tired
of dealing with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which
is charged with enforcing environmental regulations in
the Lake Tahoe Basin.
"I'm
tired of their regulating everything I did, and I'm tired
of dealing with them," Bluth said.
"The
environment here is anti-business. Even when you're doing
things to improve your property they fight you tooth and
nails."
Bluth
will lease the casino for the next four months, after
which Larry Woolf, a managing member of the company that
operates Casino Fandango in Carson City and former president
of Caesars at Tahoe, will lease the casino, Bluth said.
"He
knows the business well and will be successful at it,"
Bluth said.
Once owned by Frank Sinatra, the Cal-Neva was a haven
for celebrities like the Rat Pack and Marilyn Monroe.
It was closed for three years before Bluth bought it in
1985.
TRPA
Executive Director John Singlaub said he's sorry Bluth
feels the way he does.
"We've
had a lot of success working with hotels at Lake Tahoe,"
Singlaub said. "We work very hard to keep this a
nice place, and if Chuck doesn't agree with that, then
I'm sorry."
New
facility still set for completion in the fall
As
Reported by Sun-Sentinal.com
HALLANDALE
BEACH,
Florida - With only a few support beams in
the ground and tons of earth still to be moved, it's hard
to believe Gulfstream
Park's new state-of-the-art facility isn't several
months behind schedule.
According
to track
president Scott Savin, the three-story, 300,000 square
foot facility is still targeted for a fall completion.
"We're
pretty much on schedule," Savin said Sunday. "We're
still looking at it being done October or November [the
original date was October] and to occupy the building
30 days before racing [which begins on Jan. 3, 2006].
Once the meet ends, they're going to do whatever it takes
to have it ready.
"Right
now we're concentrating on the exterior shell and we believe
the majority of the shell will be done sometime before
the end of this meet."
Magna
Entertainment Corp., owners of Gulfstream,
are hoping to have the shell in place before the rainy
season begins so work can begin inside the facility. Although
the shell of the building has not changed in the past
several months, Frank Stronach, CEO of Magna, continues
to review and make changes regarding the interior.
Last
year, Stronach said an area of the building could be renovated
for slot machines if a March 8 amendment passes in Broward
allowing the expanded form of gambling. Some current plans
call for the slot machines to now be on various levels
of the building.