After nearly 70 years on the Strip, the Tropicana Las Vegas is now one month away from its closure date of April 2, as the city prepares for the construction of a 33,000-seat $1.5 billion stadium for the Oakland Athletics (A’s).
Bally’s Corp., which operates the Tropicana casino, has agreed to relinquish the property in exchange for the right to rebuild its own casino resort on the remaining land of the 35-acre site, which is owned by real estate investment trust Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI)—the stadium, based on projections, is only expected to encompass nine of the 35 acres.
GLPI, for its part, has committed to extend financing for developments that it deems to be “mutually beneficial” for all parties.
On the company’s recent fourth-quarter earnings call, Bally’s CEO Robeson Reeves told investors that “the formal closure of the Tropicana on April 2 will pave the way for the demolition of the casino and hotel over the coming months with the support of our financing partner, GLPI.”
Another figure in the development is the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB)—NGCB Chairman Kirk Hendrick has confirmed that the agency will be on hand for various steps of the closure process to ensure that regulatory requirements are completed properly. Bally’s has already submitted paperwork to the state in which it disclosed that 744 employees will be laid off.
The company will also have to submit a separate closure plan to the NGCB, but the details of those plans are confidential.
In terms of next steps, Bally’, GLPI and MGM Resorts, which operates several properties in close proximity to the ballpark site, are awaiting further details from the A’s as far as design renderings, after the team rescinded earlier versions that were presented to the media and Nevada lawmakers last summer but have since been deemed inaccurate.
To add to the confusion, the team has reportedly asked Bally’s and GLPI to release their own ideas as far as new developments on the site first, in order to give a clearer picture of what the entire area might look like upon completion.
In addition to design and development setbacks, the team and owner John Fisher must secure over $1 billion in additional funding to complete the project, after Nevada lawmakers passed a $380 public financing bill for the project in a special legislative session last June.
