Licensing approved for Paris-Las Vegas resort

BRENDAN RILEY

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 1:14 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Licensing for the new Paris-Las Vegas, a $785 million hotel -casino, was approved Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Commission.

The latest addition to a string of new megaresorts, opening Sept. 1, will operate under an existing license for Bally's-LasVegas, next door on the Las Vegas Strip.

In a pending $3 billion deal, both resorts will become part of a gambling empire controlled by Park Place Entertainment Corp., a spinoff of Hilton Hotels Corp.

Dave Zerfing, executive vice president for finance and administration at the Paris, said the cost of the resort has gone up slightly, from an earlier $760 million figure.

Zerfing added that while all 2,914 hotel rooms at the new property aren't sold out, early bookings are at about 90 percent"where we projected it to be."

The joint licensing isn't unusual and is legal. The two clubs are physically connected by a shopping-restaurant mall, and will share the same personnel and reservations systems.

Under a recommendation from the state Gaming Control Board, the commission's investigative and enforcement arm, the Paris-Las Vegas will report its revenues separately from Bally's for a year for accounting - not tax - purposes. That will enable regulators to see how the new club competes with other resorts.

The new resort replicates the 800-year-old Hotel de Ville, now the Paris City Hall, and features knockoffs of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Paris Opera House and the Louvre.

The resort also will have sidewalk cafes, nine themed restaurants, 85,000 square feet of casino space and a touch of Venice in The Venetian.