Tropicana Las Vegas to be Imploded, Tentative Date Set
Posted on: April 4, 2024, 04:36h.
Last updated on: April 24, 2024, 03:58h.
UPDATE: The Tropicana? will be imploded. GGG Demolition will be handling the controlled demolition. Before that can happen, though, dust control and asbestos abatement permits must be secured, crowd and traffic control plans approved, and a special events permit obtained by Tropicana owner Bally’s Corp.
EARLIER: The Trop will drop in October, according to a new report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Soo Kim, chair of Tropicana’s current owner, Bally’s Corp., gave the newspaper that estimate on Thursday, qualifying it by stating it’s “subject to permitting and further changes.”
Soo’s answer may signal that Bally’s is attempting to apply for a permit to implode, which would require significantly more environmental approval than the wrecking ball. Bally’s has yet to say which method of destruction will be employed.
Either way, before the hotel and casino is brought down, weeks of work will be required to prepare it. And afterward, weeks of cleanup will also be required. The hotel opened on April 4, 1957, and closes on April 2, 2024.
Curve Balls
Bally’s has repeatedly stated its intention to build a new, $1.5 billion baseball stadium for the Oakland Athletics on nine acres of the 35-acre site. Mortenson-McCarthy, the construction firm hired by the A’s, told the Las Vegas Stadium Authority last year that construction would start on the ballpark in April 2025, and finish in time for the start of the 2028 season.
However, the recent further downgrading of Bally’s credit rating into junk territory by Moody’s has cast doubt on its future plans.
In addition to building a baseball stadium, those plans include building an adjoining casino hotel on the Tropicana site. And Bally’s has also fallen a reported $800 million short of being able to finance a casino hotel in downtown Chicago.
High leverage and junk credit ratings are problematic for companies seeking financing. That’s because if those firms issue corporate debt, they must do so with high interest rates?to compensate creditors for perceived risk.
Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. owns the 35-acre Tropicana site. Bally’s entered a 50-year lease for the site with GLPI in 2021.
The biggest fear of many Las Vegas observers is that the Strip will lose an icon of its history, and in return, gain only another vacant lot for a decade or longer.
Rooms Still Available
Rooms are still available for every night through the Tropicana’s last on April 1. Rates for its final Friday and Saturday night are $259, plus taxes and fees, according to the resort’s direct booking site. Sunday and Monday night are $499 each.
The casino’s slots and table games will all close at 3 a.m. Tuesday.
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Bally's website mentions ONLY two future Bally's brick-and-mortar casinos. Bally's Chicago and Bally's first land-based casino in Pennsylvania inside the nearly vacant Nittany Mall in State College, PA. The estimated cost of that planned Pennsylvania casino is $120 million. The planned State College casino is rarely, actually never, mentioned when Bally's future financial commitments are described in any news article. The construction of that Bally's casino in State College will be a bit easier since that casino location is inside a former Macy's department store building in the now nearly vacant Nittany Mall. But wait! Legal wranglings that began in July 2021 about officially and finally approving the issuance of that Bally's Pennsylvania casino license are now pending a decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The legal battle involves a lawsuit filed against the winning bidder by the non-winning bidder. At this point, some analysts are doubtful if Bally's can or even still wants to pony up that $120 million price tag for a casino in a mall just four miles from the main campus of Penn State University. Seems like a lot to spend just to put a small Bally's casino into an old Macy's department store. Besides, today's college students now really enjoy betting on sports via their smartphones. They don't look for slot machines and hope for elusive jackpots to brag about to their classmates. Their peer group members would literally roll their eyes about that dream. The college students' meager discretionary spending dollars would not last for 10 minutes with current casino table game minimums. Does this planned $120M casino in State College look like a wise business decision by the small inner circle of Bally's decision-makers? Not even close!
With the Bally's financial chaos described above, how can Bally's possibly build a $1.5 billion baseball stadium in Las Vegas at the very same time as the Bally's Chicago $1.1 billion permanent casino? The City of Chicago has mandated that Bally's Chicago permanent casino is required to open by September 2026. The A's new baseball stadium in Las Vegas is supposed to be ready for the start of the 2028 baseball season. What will Bally's tell the Oakland A's when the team starts getting nervous about not seeing a plan for a ground-breaking in Las Vegas? Will Las Vegas open a betting line on the odds of a 2028 ribbon-cutting ceremony before the opening day that Spring? What will the similar betting line odds be for the Bally's Chicago to open by September 2026.? Don't go all in on either one!
With the Bally's financial chaos described above, how can Bally's possibly build a $1.5 billion baseball stadium in Las Vegas at the very same time as the Bally's Chicago $1.1 billion permanent casino? Bally's Chicago casino is required to open by September 2026. The A's new baseball stadium in Las Vegas is supposed to be ready for the start of the 2028 season. What will Bally's tell the Oakland A's when the team starts getting nervous about not seeing a plan for a ground-breaking in Las Vegas? Will Las Vegas soon open a betting line on the odds of a 2028 ribbon-cutting ceremony before the opening day in 2028? What will the betting line be for a ribbon-cutting in Chicago in September 2026.? Don't go all in on either one!
A truly perfect quote from above: "His answer may signal that Bally’s is attempting to apply for a permit to implode..." The perfect reply is, "Permission granted!" Priceless!