Las Vegas NowBarrick Gaming Sells Four Downtown Casinos

Barrick Gaming Sells Four Downtown Casinos

Contact Reporter Edward Lawrence

The company that Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman touted as the savior of downtown is being bought out. Barrick Gaming operated four downtown casinos for 18 months. In that time they missed interest payments on their loans and now are in danger of not being able to pay employees or vendors.

Barrick had ambitious plans to redevelop downtown. They were going to tear down the towers at The Plaza and build taller more modern ones. All of those future plans are on hold as finances forced Barrick to sell.

Representatives from Barrick Gaming and their major investor, Tamares, outlined the financial problems Barrick Gaming Corporation faced for the 18 months they operated the downtown casinos. Now, without an immediate financial shot of $10 million, the gaming company will not be able to pay employees or venders.

Barrick chairman and CEO Dave Barrick, said, "In the course of business these things happen at different times. We had an option to sell out. Real estate prices are high. We got a good price for our property. We are moving on."

Tamares forced Barrick to sell. The international real estate investment firm owns 40 properties in downtown Las Vegas from residential to RV parks to vacant lots. Now they will own 100-percent of Barrick's casinos -- The Plaza, Las Vegas Club, Gold Spike, and the Western.

Tamares United States investment manager Michael Treanor says his company does not know what they will do with the casinos -- yet. "What we are going to do now is try to evaluate the opportunities we have going forward, be it hold on to the properties long-term, sell the properties."

Treanor says regardless downtown will be redeveloped.

Current Barrick president and co-founder Stephen Crystal will stay on with Tamares to run the casinos in the short-term. Then he will oversee the future of the 40 other non-gaming properties Tamares owns in Las Vegas.

Crystal said, "I think in good time much as you see the new development occurring. You are going to see these properties re-developed."

In the meantime, Tamares will pay $10 million in the next 60 days to cover Barrick's bills. Then the investment firm will fork over another $40 million to pay off Barrick's debt.

Tamares will have former MGM executive Larry Wolfe run the four casinos. Tamares will then decide what they want to do with them.

Tamares will own 10 square blocks worth of property in downtown Las Vegas. With the addition of the casinos, the company will hold 15-percent of the gaming downtown.

Tamares is a real estate company with holdings all over the world. In addition to the casinos they own 40 other properties in downtown Las Vegas, the company also owns buildings in New York and Chicago.