Tony Shea Estate sells Las Vegas' long-shuttered Casino West
Casino West, one of the weirdest casinos in Las Vegas before closing for good in 2012, is back on the market four years after the death of its extremely famous last owner.
Richard Hsieh, the father of late Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and the executor of his estate, announced last week his intention to sell the property to the Nevada Gaming Commission. At the time, he applied for a one-day slot machine license — a requirement to maintain a Western casino gaming license.
The Western was opened in 1970 by casino magnate Jackie Gaughan and his investment partner Mel Exber at Fremont and 9th Street. At the time it was the largest bingo hall in the world, with 1,020 seats. It also features an impressive 15,000 square feet of gaming space.
But its size is the only impressive thing about Western Casino, which occupies the lowest tier of Gowan's low-stakes casino empire. The empire once included the El Cortez Hotel, the Plaza Hotel, the Las Vegas Club and the Golden Spike Hotel.
By the turn of the century, Western restaurants were shabby to the core, their cheap gaming tables stained with beer stains and burnt cigarettes from local clutter patrons.
Gaughan sold the property to Barrick Gaming in 2004, the same year the AP wrote: “In a rare period of desperation for Las Vegas visitors, Western Hotels and Casinos emerge as bankrupt and near-bankrupt Lighthouse." Shattered. "."
The Western closed on Jan. 16, 2012, by Tamares Real Estate, the New York-based company that gained control of the hotel through a 2005 lease from Barrick.
In March 2013, Tamares sold it for $14 million to Downtown Projects, a company owned by Hsieh Renaissance Group, which spent $350 to annex nearly 100 properties along East Fremont Street .
It is reported that Hsieh is considering converting the Western Field into an e-sports arena to prepare for fierce competition. But like many of Hsieh's ideas, this one never became a reality.
Aside from demolishing an attached hotel that closed in 2010, Hsieh didn't do anything with Westerns before his death in 2020 from injuries sustained in a house fire in Connecticut.
Dara Goldsmith, an attorney for the Hsieh estate, told the Nevada Gaming Commission that the estate "has an active interest in the property and is optimistic that we will be ready for redevelopment of the property."
In addition to its gaming license, Western's tavern license with the city of Las Vegas has been extended until February 2025.
The broker holding the Western hotel listing is Logic Commercial Real Estate, a firm that recently made headlines for completing the sale of the Gold Spike and the adjacent Oasis Hotel, Downtowner Hotel, John E. Carson Hotel, Building and Nacho Daddy building. Valued at $24.7 million, brokered by Hsieh's estate to Boston-Omaha Asset Management.
It made headlines because both Logic and Boston Omaha are owned by the same man, Brendan Keating. He essentially sold the property he commissioned to view to himself.
Read also:
- AFC North Preview: Cincinnati Bengals aim for third straight title
- Vegas Music Roundup: Tiesto in, Xtina out, Sphere back from the dead?
- Choctaw casino taps Texas sports legend for ad campaign
- Latest victim of Oklahoma tribal casino cyberattack, Indigo Sky reveals breach
Source: www.casino.org
