Regulators endorse $205 million Station purchase of Santa Fe resort

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2000 | 9:28 a.m.

Plans by Station Casinos Inc. to buy the Santa Fe hotel-casino in North Las Vegas for $205 million won a preliminary endorsement Wednesday from Nevada regulators.

The state Gaming Control Board recommended the deal, with little mention of various difficulties that Station Casinos now faces here and in Missouri. The board's parent Nevada Gaming Commission will have final say Sept. 28 on the Santa Fe deal.

The purchase gives Station Casinos its seventh Las Vegas-area hotel-casino. The property is to be renamed Santa Fe Station and undergo a major renovation and expansion that could cost up to $60 million.

The Santa Fe now has several hundred slots and nine table games. When the expansion is complete, it'll have about 3,000 slots and 45 table games.

There was little discussion by Control Board members of last month's Missouri Gaming Commission move to strip Station Casinos of its Missouri gambling license.

Missouri regulators acted after Station executives refused to testify at an inquiry into Michael Lazaroff, a former Station lawyer who pleaded guilty earlier this year to multiple felonies.

In pleading guilty, Lazaroff admitted he pocketed law firm funds that included a questionable $500,000 bonus payment from Station. Authorities have been trying to determine whether money paid to Lazaroff was used to influence public officials.

Nevada GCB members said they'll definitely follow up on the Missouri activity but are waiting until that state's disciplinary actions are final.

"We expect to discuss this further at a later date," said Nevada GCB member Bobby Siller.

Control Board members also didn't discuss a six-count complaint the panel recently filed against Station Casinos over an anonymous campaign flier that sought to discredit Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone.

The company could face up to $600,000 in fines and sanctions on its state license because of the flier that targeted Malone, defeated in the Sept. 5 primary.

The flier was created by Station executive Mark Brown and political consultant Tom Skancke and mailed to 39,000 residents in Malone's northwest Las Vegas district. The flier was in response to Malone's support of a neighborhood casino project Station Casinos opposed.

Besides the board complaint, Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller is readying a civil lawsuit against Brown and Skancke. Heller acted after they refused to sign a consent agreement that acknowledged the law had been violated. The agreement called for the two to each pay a $5,000 fine.