Casino Giant Pulls Out Of Las Vegas Strip ProjectCrown Resorts Indicates It Will Refocus On Australia |
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Australian casino giant Crown Resorts announced Thursday that it’s no longer going to be involved with a planned casino-resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
The company said its board “has resolved not to proceed with” the Alon casino “at this time and is assessing options to optimize the value of Crown’s investment.”
The decision came “following an extensive review of funding alternatives” for the project, Crown added. The move is part of a broader company plan to refocus on its interests in Australia.
It’s a significant pivot. The company also announced that it is selling half of its business in Macau, the largest gambling market in the world.
Crown boss James Packer said just a couple of years ago that “you can’t be in the gaming industry and not have a special reverence for Las Vegas—that’s where it all began.”
This isn’t the first time Packer’s Crown has unsuccessfully made a play for Las Vegas, which has a gambling market worth about $6.5 billion annually. Packer lost nearly $2 billion on casino investments in the U.S. thanks to the 2008 financial crisis.
Despite Crown withdrawing from the project, other backers are planning to move forward, according to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“We’re going to have to flesh out what our options are and figure out another path going forward,” Andrew Pascal, co-chairman and CEO of Alon, said to the LVRJ. Pascal is a former Wynn Las Vegas President.
Packer had paid $260 million for a controlling stake in the planned Alon site. The land, which is located across the road from Wynn Las Vegas, once hosted the New Frontier Hotel & Casino before it was imploded in 2007.
If Alon is built, it will have 1,100 hotel rooms and 27,800 square feet of gambling space. It’s been pegged as casino-resort for wealthier gamblers.
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