Roski positioning Hilton for competition with Boulder Strip

Grace Leong

Friday, July 14, 2000 | 11:02 a.m.

NFL concerns

Ed Roski Jr. may not be able to fulfill his longtime goal of owning an NFL franchise because league rules prohibit owners from owning gambling businesses, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

Roski played an active role last year in the effort to attract a football franchise to Los Angeles despite owning the Silverton casino in Las Vegas. Los Angeles, the second-largest media market in the nation, lost out to Houston for the NFL's 32nd team.

The owner and operator of the Silverton hotel-casino is positioning the off-strip Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino, his largest gaming acquisition to date, to compete for local clientele with neighborhood casinos on the Boulder Strip.

Los Angeles developer and co-owner of two Los Angeles sports franchises, Ed Roski Jr., announced Monday he is buying the Paradise Road property for $365 million from Park Place Entertainment. The transaction is expected to be completed by year-end.

At a news conference Wednesday, Roski, who is expected to move the Hilton from the high-end to midlevel gaming and hospitality arena, announced plans to beef up the Hilton's gaming, food and entertainment offerings to attract more local visitors and retain tourist traffic generated by the adjacent Las Vegas Convention Center.

"We want to change the reasons for people to come here. We want to create some excitement ... Las Vegas is at the cutting edge of entertainment and we continually need to reinvent ourselves," Roski said. "It's not a matter of occupancy but rather retaining the occupants at the property.

"The property is well-positioned, very competitive with the casinos on Boulder Highway," Roski said. "We want to bring the casino area to more contemporary standards, modernize the interior designs, enlarge the gaming presentation, double the number of slots to 2,600, redo the casino floor, give it a fresh look and layout."

Craig Cavileer, the Silverton's executive vice president and general manager, also involved in the Hilton's renovation, agreed. "Our challenge is to develop a mix of products that the Hilton will be known for. We are already known to be a convention business location. Now we want to put it on the map for entertainment."

"We need a food beverage and entertainment venue," Cavileer said. "The Hilton has great infrastructure, a great 1,700-seat showroom but it's missing a great nightclub venue like the Voodoo Lounge, Rum Jungle or House of Blues."

But he noted that the hotel-casino's location on the east side of Interstate 15 will make it very accessible to those who live near Boulder Highway, and the Hilton may become a more attractive alternative to locals' casinos like Boulder Station and Sam's Town once new dining and entertainment offerings are in place.

Roski, who is also the co-owner of National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings and the National Basketball Association champion Los Angeles Lakers, confirmed the Hilton sports book, one of Las Vegas' most popular, won't take NBA and NHL bets.

"We can't accept NBA and NHL bets in any of the casino that I own ... We will stop taking such bets once we take over the ownership of the Hilton," he said. Other properties with affiliations with professional sports teams haven't accepted bets on their respective leagues.

Meanwhile, Silverton, which sits on a 55-acre parcel, last month received approval from the Clark County Commission for H1 zoning and the master plan of its $600 million expansion project. The 300-room property, which is still awaiting approval of its design plans, said the first stage of expansion, which includes the addition of 600 rooms and other amenities at a cost of $200 million, will start in fall 2001.

The property has also received zoning approval for an additional casino to be built at the cost of $400 million. Eventual plans call for the Silverton to have two casinos, around 1,000 hotel rooms, movie theaters, retail and entertainment offerings, meeting space and a wedding chapel.

Roski also said the Hilton doesn't have any plans to purchase the Las Vegas Country Club after the country club's board members twice rejected offers from the hotel-casino, which had wanted the club's golf course east of the Hilton to offer Hilton customers golfing opportunities. Members first rejected a $38.5 million offer in September 1997 and a $60 million offer in August 1998.

Cavileer said he doesn't expect any large lay-offs at the Hilton, which currently has 3,250 employees. "Because of the swiftness of the transaction, we haven't reviewed the contracts the Hilton has in place with the Culinary Union and other unions nor have we had the opportunity to meet with union representatives yet."

Jim Arnold, the Culinary Union's secretary and treasurer, said the wage benefits and seniority rights of the union's Hilton workers are fully protected and guaranteed. "Whoever buys the hotel casino has to assume the the collective bargaining agreement."

Meanwhile, Cavileer said it's too early to tell what will happen with the Hilton's agreement with the Paramount Parks division of Viacom International. The Hilton and Paramount opened "Star Trek: The Experience" in 1998, a themed attraction based on the popular series, but it has been a box-office disappointment.

"We haven't talked with Paramount yet. But our discussions will be subject to the current operating agreement that's in place," he said. "It is a great space though, about 60,000 square feet. There may be a lot of opportunities there, but we have to see what their long term plans are."