Who Owns Vegas

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Who Owns Vegas
Photo © Andrew Hudson
Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas
Last updated:
First published: October 2005


Barden Development, Inc.

Hotels: 1; Rooms: 624

Private, owned by Don Barden

11/23/09: The Las Vegas Fitzgerald's is not affected, but another of the owners' companies — Don Barden's Majestic Star Casino LLC — files for bankruptcy.

Chairman Don Barden owns both Barden Development, Inc. (BDI) and The Majestic Star Casino, LLC (majesticstar.com | Hoovers profile). BDI owns, and Majestic operates, Fitzgeralds Las Vegas (1987, 624 rooms plus 14 suites).


Bay Harbour Management, LLC

Hotels: 1; Rooms: 2,567; Rank: 16
Private

Based in New York City, Bay Harbour is an investment company specializing in bankruptcy reorganization (distressed debt) and post-bankruptcy arenas. Founded in 1990, Bay Harbour is owned by Steven Van Dyke, Douglas Teitelbaum, Sir John Templeton, and Jay Stout.

Teamed with Planet Hollywood International, Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. to form OpBiz, LLC which owns the Planet Hollywood Las Vegas hotel.

Bay Harbour Hotels in Las Vegas
HotelOpenedRooms
Planet Hollywood Las Vegas 2000
rebranded 2006
2,567
Total 2,567

The Berkley Group, Inc.

Private

Built and owns two timeshare resorts in Las Vegas:

Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, The Berkley Group was founded in 1982 and is owned by chairman and CEO James E. Lambert and its employees. A major timeshare ("fractional ownership") developer. Both Las Vegas resorts are managed by Daily Management, Inc., which was formed in 1981 to provide professional management of day-to-day operations at resorts Berkley Group resorts.

Berkley Group Timeshares in Las Vegas
HotelOpenedPlanned Rooms
The Cliffs at Peace Canyon 2001 ?
The Grandview at Las Vegas ? 2,200
Total ?


Best Western International, Inc.

Hotels: 6; Rooms: 668; Rank: 41

Private | bestwestern.com | Hoover's profile

The world's largest hotel brand (by number of rooms), Best Western is a non-profit membership association where each hotel is independently owned and operated. The company was started in 1946 in California by hotelier M.K. Guertin.

Best Western Hotels in Las Vegas
HotelAddressRooms
Boulder 110 Ville Drive 70
Main Street 1000 N Main 91
Mardi Gras 3500 Paradise Rd 314
McCarran 4970 Paradise Rd 99
Nellis Motor 5330 E Craig Rd 52
Parkview Inn 921 Las Vegas Blvd N 42
Total 668

BH/RE LLC

Hotels: 1; Rooms: 2,567

12/18/09: Planet Hollywood opens the PH Tower with 1,201 rooms (about 20% are timeshares). The tower is half-owned by Westgate.

11/26/09: Harrah's is attempting to buy Planet Hollywood, mainly for the location as it would give Harrah's control of all 126 acres between Flamingo Road and Harmon Avenue.

Owns the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Defaulted on the company's debt on 11/6/09 and is now controlled by its lenders. Harrah's may buy the outstanding debt and take control of the resort.

Teamed with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Bay Harbour Management, LLC to form OpBiz, LLC which owns the Planet Hollywood Las Vegas hotel.

Together, these three companies bought the Aladdin (opened in 2000, 2,567 rooms) hotel in 2003. (The former owner and builder, Aladdin Gaming, declared bankruptcy.) The hotel will be rebranded as Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino and opened in 2006. CEO Robert Earl controls Planet Hollywood, which he founded in 1991. Westgate Resorts, Ltd. is building Planet Hollywood Villas, a condo-hotel tower. The shopping mall, Miracle Mile (previously Desert Passage), is owned by Boulevard Invest, LLC.


BH/RE Hotels in Las Vegas
HotelOpenedRooms
Planet Hollywood Las Vegas 2000
rebranded 2006
2,567
Total 2,567


The Blackstone Group

See the separate page for Blackstone.


Boulevard Invest, LLC

Owns and operates the shopping mall at Planet Hollywood. A partner in the Weststate project. Owned by David Edelstein's Tristar Capital and RFR Holding, a German investment firm.


Boyd Gaming Corporation

Hotels: 12; Rooms: 9,355; Rank: 3

Controlled by William Boyd

NYSE: BYD | boydgaming.com | Hoovers profile

Boyd Gaming was started by Sam Boyd and his son William in 1974. Sam died in 1993 and William runs the company, which went public in 1993. In 2004, Boyd merged with Coast Hotels and Casinos, Inc. and, through Coast, owns several small "locals" hotels. In 2006, Boyd sold the South Coast Hotel and Casino (opened in 2005, with 662 rooms) to Michael Gaughan.

Echelon Place is Boyd's big project. Announced in 2006, this will be a $4 billion, 63-acre complex on the north Strip. The land is the former site of The Stardust (1958-2007, 1,500 rooms, imploded March 13, 2007) and the Westward Ho (acquired in October 2006 from Harrah's in exchange for the Barbary Coast Hotel). Echelon Place will include four hotels, a casino, theaters, convention space, spas and shopping. Bob Boughner, former CEO of the Borgata in Atlantic City, will be the president and chief executive of Echelon Place. The four hotels will be the flagship Echelon Hotel (2,300 rooms plus 650 suites, in two towers), a boutique Shangri-La (353 rooms, owned by Boyd and managed by Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts); and two other boutique hotels co-owned (50-50) with Morgans Hotel Group — Delano (550 rooms) and Mondrian (860 rooms). However the project was suspended in 2008.

Park Highlands. Announced April 11, 2008. A 66-acre resort with 1,200 hotel rooms in North Las Vegas by I-215 and Losee Road.. Joint venture with Olympia Gaming (an affiliate of Olympia Group).


Boyd Gaming Hotels in Las Vegas
Hotel Opened Rooms Notes
California 1975 781
Delano 2010 550 50% with Morgans
Echelon Hotel 2010 2,300
Fremont 1956 447
Gold Coast 1986 750
Main Street Station 1977 406
Mondrian 2010 860 50% with Morgans
The Orleans 1996 1,886
The Orleans 1996 1,886
Park Highlands 2015? 1,500
Shangri-La 2010 353
Suites at Echelon 2010 650
Suncoast 2000 427
Total: 10,855

Notes: The Stardust (1958-2007, 1,500 rooms) closed in November 2006 and was imploded in March 2007. In its place will rise the Echelon Place complex (2010).


Mark Brandenburg

Owns 50% of the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino. The other 50% was sold in March 2007 by the Brandenburg family to brothers Derek and Greg Stevens, operating as Desert Rock Enterprises.


Budget Suites of America

Hotels: 4; Rooms: 1,899

Private, owned by Robert Bigelow
budgetsuites.com

Robert "Bob" Bigelow is the owner and president of Bigelow Management, Inc. which owns Budget Suites, Inc. and Budget Suites of America.

The Budget Suites Stardust was bought by Boyd Gaming and demolished.

Budget Suites Hotels in Las Vegas
HotelAddressRooms
Las Vegas 8440 Las Vegas Blvd 301
Rancho 2219 Rancho Dr 704
Tropicana 4205 W Tropicana 414
Tropicana I-15 3655 W Tropicana 480
Total 1,899
Las Vegas locations that are no more
HotelAddressRooms
Boulder Strip 4625 Boulder Hwy 280
Flamingo 4855 Boulder Hwy 539
Paradise 3684 Paradise Rd 359
Stardust 1500 Stardust Rd 639

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Copyright © 2005–2011 Andrew Hudson for Photo Tour Books, Inc. Written for A Photo Tour of Las Vegas. You may reproduce this article for personal, educational, non-commercial and non-Internet use, such as in a hobbyist newsletter or school project. No Internet publishing is permitted. For commercial use, please email Andrew Hudson for permission.