Two more Desert Passage tenants in rent disputes

Grace Leong

Friday, Nov. 3, 2000 | 11 a.m.

Two more tenants of the Desert Passage Mall are in a legal dispute over whether rents are owed. The mall, owned by development giant TrizecHahn of Toronto, is at the Aladdin resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

In affidavits filed with Clark County District Court, ALSC Inc. doing business as Gioia and WOC Inc. doing business as World of Charms alleged they do not owe rents to their landlord, Aladdin Bazaar LLC, because the Aladdin hotel-casino failed to open on time for business or to meet its traffic flow projections and to date, the hotel's construction isn't fully completed. The Aladdin opened 16 hours late on Aug. 18.

Gioia, which said it doesn't owe $207,957 in rents, alleged the calculations were based on "incorrect square footage, 3,116 square feet, (when) the actual footage is 2,999 square feet."

Gioia, which said its landlord assessed an unfair penalty of $27,500 against the store for its late opening, alleged it had to redesign its storefront to "accommodate architectural and aesthetic (design) problems." Gioia said Aladdin Bazaar also "unreasonably" delayed approval of its plans for a new storefront.

World of Charms, which said it doesn't owe $102,361 in rents, alleged it had already paid $45,505 on Oct. 19 and wasn't given any credit for that. The store also disputed a $27,500 penalty.

Separately, a Mesa, Ariz.-based contractor sued the owner of the Anasazi at Santa Fe Restaurant and the owner of the Aladdin, alleging they defaulted on $1.8 million due for materials and work done at the restaurant.

Price Woods Inc. sued Anasazi LLC of Los Angeles and Aladdin Gaming LLC to foreclose on the restaurant after the defendants allegedly failed to complete its payments on Oct. 25.

Anasazi could not be reached for comment. Paul Beirnes, director of marketing for Desert Passage, declined comment.

Anasazi and Caviar Royal LLC, the owner of the Beluga Bar at the Caspian Sea, said last month they were fighting eviction notices. They disputed claims they were behind on rent and said business at the mall has been below their expectations.