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Caesars Empire
Caesars Entertainment properties now cover about 350 acres of prime Las
Vegas land which includes; Caesars Palace, Harrah's, Imperial Palace,
O'Sheas, Flamingo, Barbary Coast, Whole-in-the-Wall Restaurant and Plaza,
Bourbon Street, several small (and soon to be vacant) apartment buildings,
Bally's, Paris, Rio and a large parcel behind Planet Hollywood.
Older news on this page will refer to the company as Harrah's (the previous
name for Caesars Entertainment). |
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NEWS 4/12/08 Harrah's Entertainment Changing Name to
Caesars Entertainment
Harrah's Entertainment Inc. will soon change its
name to Caesars Entertainment Inc (CE). This will be the second time
that name has surfaced. When Park Place acquired Caesars in 2004, they
changed their company name to Caesars Entertainment (taking advantage of the
high-end name). Back then, CE owned Caesars Palace, Bally's, Paris and Rio.
No timeframe was given for the name change.
Harrah's bought CE in 2005 and added the resorts
to their inventory. In 2007 Harrah's was acquired by
TPG Capital and Apollo
Management and taken private.
source: Harrah's Entertainment
NEWS 1/29/08 The privatizing of Harrah's is complete
The $17.7-billion
buyout of Harrah's Entertainment is final.
Harrah's will no
longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Apollo Management and TPG
Capital have completed the task of taking Harrah's private. The new owners
have stated that they are still going forward with major (yet to be
announced)
plans for developments and expansions in Las Vegas.
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NEWS 8/22/07
Will Harrah's Build an Arena ?
Harrah's and AEG released plans to build a $500-million, 20,000-seat arena on ten
acres of the
unused land behind Bally's and Paris. The arena will be a
state-of-the-art, high-end facility capable of housing an NBA or NHL
franchise.
The project is expected to break ground in the summer of 2008 with an opening
planned for 2010.AEG is a
leading developer and operator of venues such as STAPLES Center, The
Home Depot Center, Target Center, London's O2 Arena and NOKIA
Theatre in Times Square.
There was no mention of the vehicular traffic impact such a project
will create, this might be a big issue for an arena of this size in
such a busy area.
Read the full press release here
NEWS 8/21/07
Harrah's to announce plans in news
conference on 8/22/07
Harrah's Entertainment,
Inc. will announce the next step in the company's Las Vegas Master
Plan. Following on the heels of last month's $1 billion+ Caesars
Palace expansion announcement, Harrah's will unveil development
plans for a new entertainment offering.
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Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon
3/1/07
Name Change Official
The Barbary Coast has
officially converted to Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon. To the
naked eye, not much has changed, however (to this reporters eagle eye)
the place has changed for the better. Harrah's has replaced the ratty
carpet in the casino, used gallons of Windex and brass polish on the
crystal chandeliers and buckets of Liquid Gold on the woodwork. The
place seems so fresh and clean, it's a pleasure to play there now.
Harrah's is converting the
players club to Harrah's Rewards, which will tie all the Harrah's
properties together.
2/16/07 Barbary Coast to become Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon
According to the Review Journal, Barbary Coast's new name will be
Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon, named after company founder Bill
Harrah. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has recommended approval of
the land swap (outlined below), which still has to get an approval from the Nevada
Gaming Commission.
They need to change the name because Boyd has the
rights to the Coast name (South Coast became South Point when Boyd
sold it). I doubt they throw much money at the property and that it
will eventually be imploded so they can realize their master plan. I
figure Bill's will be short-lived.
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Rumors
and Thoughts
10/04/06 Although nothing
official has been released regarding Harrah's master-plan, some news
has leaked. It seems that many of my earlier predictions are coming true.
According to the rumor-mill:
IP will be the first to go and Harrah's
Resort will expand into that area.
Flamingo will get a major overhaul/remodel to the public areas and rooms
(which are said to be very modern and chic)
Bally's will become a Horseshoe. The older
"T" shaped tower will be imploded while the newer tower (nearest to the
strip) will be saved and re-skinned. The front yard (now a waste of space)
will be developed as a new casino, bringing it right to the strip.
I can foresee
(now that
they have the Barbary Coast land) an Expansion of the Flamingo to the corner
with a second floor retail and restaurant corridor, bridging Flamingo Road
and merging with the new Horseshoe development.
The neighborhood behind Harrah's/IP/Flamingo,
will be used for convention space, parking and possible residential towers.
Nothing was stated about the land behind Paris and Aladdin.
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Harrah's Gets Barbary Coast - Boyd Gets Room for Expansion
10/02/06 Harrah's
Entertainment and Boyd Gaming finally agreed on the trade of the
former Westward Ho and adjacent property for the Barbary Coast. In the real
world, trading a 4.3-acre lot for a 24-acre lot (on the strip, 1.5 miles away), doesn't seem
like a good deal, but Vegas is not the real world. This agreement will
be consummated in the first quarter on 2007.
This deal makes sense for both players:
It gives Boyd 24 acres which are adjacent to the 63-acre Stardust and Budget
Suites sites (that are being redeveloped into the $4-billion
Echelon Place) for a whopping 87 contiguous
acres. According to an undisclosed official at Boyd Gaming, the plans for
Echelon Place will not be altered by the newly acquired property. That
property will be developed as Phase II, after Echelon Place is completed.
The land will be
used for staging during the construction of Echelon Place.
The swap gives Harrah's control of three corners of the hottest intersection in
Vegas and the ability to move ahead with a more "lofty" master-plan. read
on...
More Land
8/6/06 Harrah's
bought another big piece of its quested land last week. The 12 acres on the
corner of Koval and Harmon is now in Harrah's Empire. The new land now gives
Harrah's a 1,000-foot frontage on Harmon Ave. and 2,300 feet on Koval
(the whole block). This can be seen on the
Harrah's Quest Map
Another Option
7/30/06 Harrah's has a new angle on
procuring the much-coveted Barbary Coast. Harrah's now has options on the
Westward Ho property which they are using as a bargaining piece. If they
take the bait, Boyd (the owners of the Barbary Coast) would be able to
expand their Echelon Place plans onto the adjacent Westward Ho land. This
acquisition would give Boyd 87 contiguous acres. This seems like a good
deal for both parties.
The map (above) illustrates the size difference between the Westward Ho's 24
acres and the Barbary Coast's 4.3 and the proximity of these properties to
their wanting neighbors. If Boyd doesn't take the deal, Harrah's options
with the Ho could also be played to MGM MIRAGE which owns Circus Circus
(which is adjacent to the north edge of the HO land), or, Harrah's could
choose to build on the land.
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3/01/06 Since the last report, Harrah's
has purchased a 19.5-acre apartment complex on the east side of Koval (north
of Flamingo). Harrah's has also purchased a few more parcels in the
hodge-podge neighborhood behind the Flamingo and IP. This will give Harrah's
over 120 contiguous acres north of Flamingo Blvd (once the rest of the
apartments are snatched up)..
OK, here's where things get interesting. The
Barbary Coast sits right in the middle of Harrah's properties, blocking the
possibility of Harrah's linking the Flamingo with Bally's.
Boyd
(owners of several properties scattered throughout the Las Vegas valley)
owns the Barbary Coast hotel and claims to not be interested in selling it
to Harrah's or anyone else.
Harrah's then started buying land behind the
Flamingo. The purchases include; the Hole-in-the-wall restaurant and plaza,
Bourbon Street (now imploded), several small apartment buildings and the new
19.5 acres, giving them a place to bridge across Flamingo
Road to Bally's.
Harrah's also owns about 35 acres behind
Bally's, Paris and Planet Hollywood (Aladdin) which gives them frontage on
the Harmon Corridor. As Harmon becomes more developed, I'm sure this parcel
will become a bigger priority for Harrah's. That would give then a large
entrance to the empire between the new Planet Hollywood timeshare and the W
Hotel. |
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My Guess (slightly revised...again)
My Guess is; they will blow up the Imperial Palace and most of Harrah's,
after they remodel the Flamingo. They will eventually
purchase all of the neighborhood behind the IP and Flamingo and use it for
convention and condo space. They'll build a new
Strip resort, and tie it in with the revamped Flamingo. They will expand the
Flamingo to the corner (assuming the Barbary Coast swap deal goes through),
and could easily build over Flamingo road to Bally's with restaurants and a
night club with a Bellagio fountain view. A boutique hotel would fit nicely
in the old Bourbon Street site.
They could also build a new resort on Harmon
Ave. and tie it into the backside of Paris and Bally's which would hi-jack
Harmon pedestrians into Harrah's connected empire.
Just guessing.
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2/28/06 Flamingo to Undergo Renovation
The Flamingo has slowly started a makeover which
will cover most of the (well used) public spaces including guest rooms, the
casino, bars restaurants, retail areas and the lobby. Evidence can be seen
on the third floor of the parking garage near the pedestrian bridge where a
painted concrete planter is receiving a new polished granite skin.
My Guess
Harrah's must have something up their sleeve.
The talk about Harrah's eventually imploding the Flamingo are not
necessarily wrong. It makes sense to keep at least one of your profit
centers open while the construction-years of a major project drone on. Maybe
the demise of the Flamingo will be the last phase of this project 4-5 years
down the road. Meanwhile, the old girl is looking her age, so a modest
investment will keep the Flamingo fans happy and make new friends as well.
Just a guess.
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2/14/06 Harrah's Owned Bourbon Street Imploded
At 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, 2/14/06 The small Bourbon
Street Hotel and Casino became the 11th imploded building in Las Vegas.
Harrah's (the new owners) is quickly buying up many parcels behind Bourbon
Street and have not yet made their master plan known.
More Implosions here |
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11/20/05
Harrah's has Explosive Plans
Harrah's announced that the Imperial Palace and O'Sheas will indeed be
imploded. They also hinted at major reconstruction and or demolition of part
or all of their Flamingo and Harrah's resorts adjacent to the Imperial
Palace.
Harrah's planners are working on a conceptual
development.
"We're going to put in place assets serving guests well
into the next decade, so the problem is what range of entertainment
offerings should be present in that location not just in 2005, but in 2012
and 2015." |
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8/22/05 Harrah's Purchases the Imperial
Palace
Harrah's Entertainment Monday, announced the
purchase of the Imperial Palace for $370 million. Seems like a lot for a
downtrodden hotel but the land underneath the hotel is what Harrah's really
wants.
Located between Harrah's Las Vegas and the
Flamingo on the east side of the Strip and across the street from Caesars
Palace, the 2,640-room Imperial Palace sits on 18.5 prime acres. This land
will allow Harrah's to eventually link Harrah's with the Flamingo by
Imploding the IP and expanding either Harrah's or the Flamingo or both.
Linking commonly owned hotels via inside
malls and walkways has been a trend in Vegas since the Excalibur linked with
the Luxor. This keeps the customer from wandering into enemy territory.
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9/7/05 Boyd Purchases the Land Harrah's Desires
In this never ending Monopoly game, Boyd made a
strategic move and purchased the 1.8 acres of land under its Barbary Coast
hotel. Boyd already owned the Hotel and the 2.5 acres behind it (which is
used as a surface parking lot). This gives Boyd full leverage for the
Barbary Coast's future. The 1.8 acre parcel sold for the bargain price
of $15.7 million (that's $8.7 million per acre compared to the $20 million
per acre Harrah's paid for the Imperial Palace). Now they can either
develop it or sell it to Harrah's for a profit.
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Adelson Building Parking Garage on Harrah's Property
Even with the huge underground parking garage being built under the Palazzo,
Sheldon Adelson (the owner of the Venetian and Sands Expo) is still coming
up short in the parking category. Arrangements have been made with Harrah's.
Harrah's will allow Adelson to build a parking garage on their property (see
map below) if Adelson lets Harrah's have the first few floors of it for
their use. Adelson will use the upper floors for much needed employee
parking. It will be linked by bridges to the existing Venetian parking
garage.
This may let Adelson use his newly acquired property (behind Sands Expo) for
other purposes.
Construction has started on the new garage and until it's completed, the
employees of the Venetian and Sands Expo are parking at a lot behind Paris
(leased from Harrah's) and shuttled to work.
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 Construction photo of
3/01/06 shows a 15-story garage
Click image to enlarge |
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6/13/05 Bally's to be Reinvented
Bally's,
which opened in the 1970s on the Las Vegas Strip at Flamingo Boulevard,
may be renovated and renamed, to woo visitors attracted to newer resorts.
No formal plans or renderings are yet available although there is a rumor
that Bally's may be imploded.
Harrah's acquired Bally's Las Vegas
in June 2005 with its $6.5-billion purchase of Caesars Entertainment Inc. This purchase will add
Caesars Palace, The Flamingo, Paris and Bally's to Harrah's inventory.
Since Harrah's dumped
their other Bally's property and acquired the Horseshoe brand last
year, I suspect the Horseshoe brand will be used on whatever becomes of
this property.
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