Maxim owner apparently in pact to sell property

David Strow

Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2001 | 10:41 a.m.

The Maxim hotel near the Las Vegas Strip, shuttered in August after years of financial struggles, appears to have found a new owner.

Sources told the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday that Houston-based Revanche LLC, the owner of the 800-room Flamingo Road property, has signed a deal to sell the property.

Larry Stevens, attorney for Revanche, declined to discuss any buyer or details, saying a confidentiality agreement was in place.

"(A confidentiality agreement) would indicate there's an agreement somewhere with somebody," Stevens said. "But we don't have a deal yet. We continue to show it (to potential buyers) from time to time."

The Maxim, opened in 1979, fell in and out of bankruptcy several times, and briefly closed in late 1999 after a dispute between its former owner and the casino's operator. The hotel reopened in December 1999, but the casino has remained shuttered ever since.

Revanche acquired the property in June 2000, and had been marketing it for sale. But without an operating casino, the property bled red ink, and Revanche shut down the property in August.

Revanche had been seeking in the neighborhood of $42 million for the Maxim -- the price it sold for in 1999.

However, a source familiar with the situation said the property's sale price is in the $20 million to $30 million range.

"I think they (Revanche) finally came to reality," the source said.

The source added the buyer was believed to be Lew Wolff, co-founder of Los Angeles hotel firm Maritz & Wolff. This company had unsuccessfully tried to acquire the Regent Las Vegas out of bankruptcy.

Wolff said he looked at the property a few weeks ago, but denied he'd signed a deal to buy the property. He said, however, he heard someone had "tied it up."

"Unless someone in my firm is doing something I don't know about, I don't have any direct interest in it at this point," Wolff said. "It's an interesting opportunity for someone if they buy it (at the right price) and do a few dollars of remodeling. But at this point, I don't have any interest in it beyond the fact I know about it."

Stevens said interest in the property had picked up dramatically in the past three weeks.

"I think people have come to the realization the world's not coming to an end, and they're ready to get on with business," Stevens said. "They're taking the long view ... that things might happen in the short term that would depress the (Las Vegas) market, but in the long term, the market is very solid and growing."

Most of the proposals received by Revanche contemplate a renovation of the Maxim over a 12- to 18-month period, rather than its demolition, Stevens said.

"Every now and then someone will surface with a demolition project, but I think the land value is not quite high enough as raw land to justify that," Stevens said. "Every serious purchaser we've talked to has had a renovation project."

Stevens said he believes a signed deal could come as soon as the middle of January, followed by a closing by the end of the first quarter.