On August 9, the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) voted to approve billionaire Tilman Fertitta’s purchase of Hard Rock Lake Tahoe from Paragon Gaming, a deal that was first announced in late March for an undisclosed price.
The matter will now proceed to the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) for final approval later this month, and the deal is expected to close August 25.
In his remarks to the NGCB, Fertitta vowed to invest heavily in the property by redoing everything from the 539 guest rooms to the casino floor and the dining options. He also asserted that the property’s staff count will increase by 30 to 40 percent.
“We will turn (Hard Rock) into a true operating casino,” Fertitta said, according to CDC Gaming Reports. “We will add our own restaurants that are staples at all of our casinos. We will revamp every single room. When we go in, we basically touch every square foot of the casino and all of that will happen over the next 24 months. We look forward to having another casino in Nevada. It’s definitely the place to do business if you’re in the gaming business.”
The property is expected to be renamed as Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe Hotel and Casino within 30 days of closing—Fertitta’s holding company, Fertitta Entertainment, already operates two Golden Nugget casinos in Nevada and one each in New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois and Mississippi.
Other subsidiaries that fall under the Fertitta Entertainment brand include the NBA’s Houston Rockets and the Landry’s restaurant chain.
“Planwise, we always liked the Tahoe market,” Fertitta said at one point, per CDC. “We saw this as a great opportunity. As we did in Las Vegas, Laughlin, Atlantic City, Biloxi, Lake Charles,. and Cripple Creek Colorado, we will take this property and totally transform it as we always do with the Golden Nugget name on it. We always expect it to be one of the top properties in the market.”
