Ormsby House sale could go on indefinitely

Thursday, July 22, 1999 | 12:03 p.m.

"There's still nothing hitting," Eric Nelson, of Eric Nelson Auctioneers in Las Vegas, said Wednesday. "This could go on indefinitely."

"We've had some serious people taking a look," Nelson said. "But there has to be a firm offer made, and so far nothing is real firm."

Nelson Auctioneers held an auction of the Ormsby House in May, but the $2 million offered by the lone bidder, Tom Day, a Riverside developer, was deemed too low by Cerberus Partners of New York. Cerberus is the lender that took over the casino after it went into receivership in 1997.

Day later upped his price to $4.2 million, considered the minimum Cerberus would accept, but negotiations fell through.

Nelson said his firm is handling calls from potential buyers and forwarding them to Bob Cashell, appointed by Cerberus to manage the club. Cashell holds the gambling license for the casino, and could stay on for a year with a new owner while a new license is acquired.

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