Lucky Dragon was largely financed through the US government’s EB-5 visa program. Foreigners and their families can obtain permanent residency status by investing at least $500,000 in a development project that employs at least 10 people.<\/p>\n
Fonfa created an entity called the Las Vegas Economic Impact Regional Center to facilitate the EB-5 program. More than 200 investors, who aren’t involved in day-to-day operations, reportedly bought in.<\/p>\n
However, in 2015, short on cash after the EB-5 program “dried up” per Fonfa’s own admission, the developer sought a $25 million bailout from the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency.<\/p>\n
\n“The fact that it’s a very challenging area, with decades of decay and blight and crime-ridden in the city, we believe that this challenging area deserves incentive for a redevelopment,” Fonfa said in his reasoning.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The city voted 6-1 against the petition, with Mayor Carolyn Goodman saying at the time that such funds have never been used to build a casino.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a much ballyhooed launch less than two years ago, the Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino is facing foreclosure, and the off-Strip Asian-themed resort could have a new owner as early as next month.\u00a0 \u00a0 After closing its casino and restaurants less than two weeks ago, with Lucky Dragon reps at the time claiming the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":67534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Off-Strip Casino Lucky Dragon in Foreclosure, Auction Scheduled<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n