Jan 23, 2018 Las Vegas’ Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino started 2018 by temporarily closing all gaming and restaurant operations. Now its facing foreclosure and the auction block. In fact, the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting the the off-Strip boutique-style casino resort designed to create an authentic Asian cultural and gaming experience received a default notice in September. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the Lucky Dragon sale closed on April 22, 2019 with Don Ahern, CEO of construction equipment firm Ahern Rentals. Please try to contain your excitement. The new owner plans to re-open the Lucky Dragon under a new name (a solid strategy) as a non-gaming hotel (insert sad trombone here).
A failed Las Vegas casino was bought earlier this week, according to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Don Ahern, chairman of the board and CEO of construction equipment company Ahern Rentals, purchased the closed Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino from Snow Covered Capital for $36 million.
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The Asian-themed casino opened in December 2016 and was the first new casino in Las Vegas since Aria was opened in 2010. It was a $139 million project located just north of the strip.
The casino struggled from the start, however, and by March 2017, approximately 100 of the 800 employees were fired as a result of poor customer turnout. In September of that same year, the Lucky Dragon received a default notice on its $90 million loan.
In January 2018, the casino and restaurants were closed in an effort to reorganize the company and reopen within six months. A foreclosure notice was filed the following month. At the time of foreclosure, there was still $48.9 million remaining on the loan.
Lucky Dragon entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which temporarily preserved the jobs of the remaining 98 hotel employees. The hotel closed in March of 2018.
Lucky Dragon Las Vegas Construction
Snow Covered Capital, the resort’s main lender, took ownership of the property and set the opening bid for the property at $35 million at the foreclosure auction last October. It received no bids.
Lucky Dragon Las Vegas News
The property features a nine-story hotel with 203 rooms and 27,500 square feet of gaming space. When the property was open, there were five restaurants and a spa as well.