Las Vegas Weekly

June 4, 2008 · 10:34 AM

Strip plans for $5 billion Crown Resort canceled

By Robin Leach

Wall Street investment bankers report this morning that the ambitious $5 billion Crown Las Vegas resort casino project at the former Wet ‘n Wild amusement park location near the Sahara hotel-casino has been canceled.

The Australian gaming company Crown Ltd. had partnered with Texas-based developer Christopher Milam blamed the current difficult credit market conditions for their joint decision. The casino resort was expected to include 5,000 rooms, a 250,000-square-foot casino, with significant meeting and retail space. The first phase was to open in 2011.

Its unclear as this story continues to develop how Crown's investment in the planned Fountainbleu resort, also on the north end of the Strip, is affected.

Crown, which is Australia's biggest casino owner, had paid $22.5 million for its stake in the joint-venture company to develop the 27 acre Wet ‘n Wild site, which would have been the immediate neighbor of its planned Fountainbleu property. Crown has a 20-percent share in Fontainbleu.

By deciding to cancel the Crown Vegas project, the company, which held a 37 percent share in the development, will now take a balance-sheet charge of a $42 million loss against earnings.

In addition to its neighboring Fontainebleau development, Crown's U.S. investments include a 4.9-percent stake in Station Casinos, headquartered in Vegas, and a 2.5-percent holding in Harrah's Entertainment, also HQ'd here .In December, Crown also agreed to buy Cannery Casino Resorts here in Vegas for $1.75 billion in cash, gaining three casinos in the Las Vegas Valley and its racetrack in Pittsburgh.

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