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MonteLago to Bring Gaming Back to Lake Las Vegas

Posted on April 7th, 2011

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The tides just keep turning in favor of Vegas. Recently, the financially strapped Lake Las Vegas community is finding new hope in the form of a bid to operate the Casino MonteLago located at the MonteLago Village Resort. The savior: Las Vegas-based Intrepid Gaming who has had a number of projects of the “bring me back to life” variety. Three days after the Ravella Hotel – formerly the Ritz-Carlton and sits right next to the MonteLago – opened, Intrepid Gaming applied a license for non-restricted gaming operations for the once flailing but now dead facility. The thinking goes that there shouldn’t be just one facility in the area, or maybe the tides really are turning pertaining to the economic crisis if an operator can find supporting market data to show that two casinos can coexist in such a location.

The owner of Intrepid Gaming is Jon Berkley, known in the Last Vegas community because of his previous work as Chief Executive Officer of the now mothballed Las Vegas Gaming Inc. Berkley currently operates bingo and keno operations for many Native American casinos in many states across the country. Another established name in the gaming business, Marcus Suan – the former vice president of slots at Boyd Gaming – is taking the reigns as Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, this according to Intrepid’s website. After the licensing application was filed on February 14, the state gaming control agency immediately started looking into the financial viability of the company to operate another casino. The investigation is expected to take up to 2 months, maybe more, before the gaming control agency-approved papers will be forwarded to the Nevada Gaming Commission for a final vote.

Intrepid will also have to work with Village Hospitality LLC which is currently listed as the owner for the land on which the MonteLago is built. To make matters more interesting, Village Hospitality LLC is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank which owns the Ravella facility. The MonteLago and the Ravella share a common covered walkway to allow easy entry and exit by enterprising gamblers. The MonteLago last operated on March 2010 under the auspices of CIRI Lakeside Gaming Investors LLC. Based on state laws, closed facilities automatically mean the gaming license of the operator is forfeited. This is done so that the consumers are protected from a bad string of casinos by an irresponsible or downright incompetent operator.

That closure came less than a week after the Ritz-Carlton decided to fold its tent because of financial problems on Village Hospitality’s part. The Ritz-Carlton’s closure cost 170 employees their jobs, including a potential influx of new cash by investors who decided to bolt out once the Ritz-Carlton went public with the declaration. Even prior to Intrepid’s bid for a gaming license, minor construction work has been going around inside the MonteLago and Dolce has been floating ideas regarding the future of the gaming facility. Still, it took the Intrepid’s filing to fully confirm hunches. Following the gaming license application, Intrepid also went in to file a trademark claim for the name and logo of the Casino MonteLago. All in all, six trademarks were claimed including three bars and restaurants; they are The Palio, Bambino!, and Ritorno Al Fondamentali.

Elsewhere in the Lake Las Vegas community, a Honolulu based company also went in to purchase the sole working golf course in the gated subdivision. The purchase was pegged at $4.5 million and a deed was executed on February 17, three days after Intrepid’s announcement. The SouthShore Golf Course now belongs to Nevada South Shore LLC who lists Bing Yang as CEO. The total transaction was for 13 parcels from SPE MD Holdings of the Textron Financial Corp out of Rhode Island. Those parcels included the clubhouse and the greens for the golf course.

South Shore Golf Course has an existing agreement with Loews Lake Las Vegas for Ravella guests to play at the course for $190. Already, Ravella is deep into ramping up it presence in the area to boost casino attractions. It remains to be seen whether Intrepid will go the same route with any of the two other non-operational golf courses in Lake Las Vegas – the Falls and Reflection Bay golf course.