A union trying to organize construction workers helped put together a lawsuit accusing KB Home and Countrywide Financial of inflating home values and appraisals in Nevada and Arizona, a union spokeswoman said Saturday.
Countrywide Financial is accused in a new lawsuit of teaming up with KB Home to inflate prices on new homes in Arizona and Nevada -- allegedly hurting consumers by placing them in deals with negative equity without their consent.
Riviera Holdings Corp., owner of the Riviera hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, on Friday reported another quarterly loss. The company said business conditions in Las Vegas remain weak and that it may suffer from delays in construction of the nearby Fontainebleau resort.
General Growth Properties Inc., a big land developer and shopping mall owner in Las Vegas, reported a loss for the first quarter as the economy weakened and the company posted restructuring costs
Zetian Systems founder uses profits to help young girls in rural China
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Las Vegas businesswoman Weina Zhang says she works all the time not for the money, but to help young girls in her native China. Zhang, chief executive and majority partner in Zetian Systems Inc., is a relatively unknown but fast-rising name in the worldwide construction industry. Her company supplies glass panels and other architectural products, mainly from China.
A Barneys New York official today denied a report the company is trying to close its store on the Las Vegas Strip because of disappointing sales there.
Downtown Las Vegas casino-hotels Four Queens, Binions involved in rent disputes
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Financial problems appear to be growing at the downtown Las Vegas Four Queens and Binion's hotel-casinos, with the Four Queens saying it faces potential insolvency because of a dispute with one of its landlords.
Clark County suit alleges directors would see personal benefits from merger
Monday, May 4, 2009
Centex Corp. shareholders are being short-changed in the company's proposed $3.1 billion merger with Pulte Homes Inc., investors are charging in lawsuits in Nevada and Texas. Centex, which is incorporated in Nevada but based in Dallas, was sued April 24 along with its directors and Pulte by shareholder Anbar Holdings Ltd. The suit was filed in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas. Anbar said the "consideration being offered by Pulte is unfair and inadequate."
MGM Mirage stock advanced 19 percent today on news that an equity infusion -- rather than a rush to unload assets -- may plan an important role in the re-working of the gaming operator's balance sheet.
Southwest Gas Corp. of Las Vegas today reported a first quarter profit of $50 million or $1.12 per share, about even with the $49.2 million or $1.14 earned in the same quarter of 2008.
Even as he works to bring his homebuilding company out of bankruptcy, Las Vegas developer Jim Rhodes has been sued by a local bank over a loan that is not part of the bankruptcy case.
M Resort founder Anthony Marnell III offered a sobering economic outlook for Las Vegas on Thursday -- and harshly criticized banks that received government bailout money and then turned against struggling borrowers.
A landlord has rejected a plea from Binion's hotel-casino that its rent be lowered to help it survive the recession, and instead has filed a lawsuit seeking back rent and the appointment of a receiver to take over the historic gambling hall. A similar situation is emerging across the street at the Four Queens.
Work continues at jobsite as resort negotiates with banks
Thursday, April 30, 2009
A Fontainebleau Resort spokesman today said construction workers are being laid off because of financing problems at the $2.9 billion resort on the Strip. Spokesman Dave Satterfield said some subcontractors are cutting staff, leaving them with only skeletal crews, although construction on the resort is continuing. He didn't know how many workers have lost their jobs because of funding concerns. Fontainebleau is continuing to negotiate with Bank of America for financing.
Analyst: Deal on CityCenter and waivers from lenders 'a major win for MGM'
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The stock of MGM Mirage soared 40 percent this morning on news that it secured financing to complete its $8.5 billion CityCenter complex on the Las Vegas Strip and settled its differences with partner Dubai World.
A federal judge has upheld the validity of two slot machine patents held by International Game Technology of Reno, rejecting claims by competitor Bally Technologies of Las Vegas that they are invalid.
Amerityre Corp., a small Boulder City company that makes specialty tires, on Wednesday announced the resignation of Chief Executive Gary Benninger as part of a cost-cutting campaign.
The national AFL-CIO today criticized several big banks that are being sued over their reported refusal to fund $790 million needed for construction of the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
When it was announced last summer for the showroom at the Venetian resort in Las Vegas, "The Real Deal!'' production was called "a new paradigm in entertainment" in which the audience would interact with professional poker players in a show combining humor and action.
Lawyers going after firms infringing on Las Vegas casino trademarks
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Attorneys representing gaming companies continue to go after alleged "cybersquatters,'' suing numerous companies they claim are using Internet sites to profit by infringing on the trademarks of well-known Las Vegas casinos
MGM Mirage and Dubai World have settled their differences over funding for CityCenter, with MGM Mirage agreeing to cover any cost overruns and Dubai World agreeing to pay back some CityCenter payments that had been covered by MGM Mirage.
NV Energy Inc. today reported a first quarter loss of $22.2 million, or 9 cents per share, as the economy slowed growth in its customer count while it continued to invest in new power plants.
For more than a decade now, Beverly Hillbillies star Max Baer Jr. has been hoping to build his "Jethro Bodine's Beverly Hillbillies Mansion and Casino" near Carson City.
Las Vegas again is near the top of the list of big U.S. cities when it comes to the decline in home values. Standard & Poor's today released its monthly S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, with numbers for February showing prices in Las Vegas fell 3.6 percent from January.
Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the world's largest casino operator, late Monday reported first-quarter financial results that showed continued declines in revenue for its big Las Vegas resorts that have been hit hard by the recession.
A woman who says she was fired by the Hard Hock hotel-casino after complaining about the behavior of Dennis Rodman there has now won a $225,000 judgment against Rodman.
So far, Jeff Soffer and his Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC have the upper hand in their public relations war against banks that have threatened to halt $790 million in funding for the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau Resort under construction on the Las Vegas Strip.
Top MGM Mirage executives were paid less in 2008 as the company's financial results deteriorated, a company filing showed today. Former Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Lanni was paid $3.814 million last year, down from $12.74 million in 2007 and $15.687 million in 2006.
Group says it's owed more than $56 million against the property
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A lender is charging in newly filed court papers that one of the owners has multiple felony convictions and the Greek Isles hotel-casino in Las Vegas was mismanaged prior to a lender seizing control of the property in March. Canpartners Realty Holding Co. IV LLC made those allegations in a motion filed Wednesday in Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, where a group of creditors on April 6 filed an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition against the investment group that had controlled the Greek Isles.
This sounds entertaining: Chicken Ranch brothel owner Kenneth Green has called a news conference for Friday in Las Vegas to demand that politicians do something about illegal prostitution here, which he calls a multibillion-dollar industry.
Wall Street credit analysts are out with more reports on the gaming industry and one has a decidedly "good news/bad news tone." CreditSights analysts Chris Snow and Frank Lee issued a report noting "spring is in the air" -- a reference to investors warming up to gaming securities as optimism builds about the broader economy.
The stock of Nevada State Bank's parent company tumbled today after the company reported a loss and its financial outlook was revised downward by Moody's Investors Service because of problem real estate loans.
Canadian-based firm files after defaulting on loan
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The owner of a casino-entertainment complex in Canada and card rooms in Washington state filed for bankruptcy protection last week after defaulting on a loan.
Station Casinos Inc. is suing an Internet company based in Panama that it says is infringing on trademarks Station owns for three of its Las Vegas hotel-casinos. Station's suit says the defendants are operating sites on the Internet with domain names that include the phrases "boulderstation'," "sunsetstation" and "palacestation." The same defendants were sued by several MGM Mirage properties in the same court last year. MGM Mirage obtained an injunction and a $2.2 million judgment against them for infringing on the trademarks covering Bellagio, Circus Circus, Mandalay Bay, New York-New York and Treasure Island.
Concerns about a glut of office and retail space in the Las Vegas Valley aren't stopping some brave developers from adding even more space to the market.
Two Las Vegas-based gaming companies are again the only Nevada firms included in Fortune magazine's annual Fortune 500 list of the nation's largest companies. Harrah's Entertainment Inc. is ranked No. 263 and MGM Mirage is ranked No. 344.
A bank in the Northern Nevada town of Elko failed today and its deposits were taken over by Nevada State Bank. Great Basin Bank of Nevada was closed by the Nevada Financial Institutions Division, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver.
Shares of Las Vegas-based casino resort company MGM Mirage fell early today on a report that two big buyers of its debt have urged the company to correct its balance sheet problems by filing for bankruptcy protection. Shares rebounded this afternoon on reports that MGM Mirage and Dubai World are near an agreement on terms of a proposal to lenders that would secure funding for CityCenter.
Wall Street credit raters on Wednesday unleashed a flurry of negative reports involving Las Vegas, with Harrah's and General Growth Properties receiving much of the attention.
General Growth Properties Inc. of Chicago, a big player in the Las Vegas real estate and retailing industries, filed for bankruptcy late Wednesday Las Vegas time.