Reno land still for sale

Thursday, May 31, 2001 | 10:50 a.m.

The 96-acre site that at one time was the proposed location of a Sam's Town hotel-casino in Reno is still on the market.

Rob Stillwell, a spokesman for the Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corp., which has Sam's Town franchises in Las Vegas and Tunica, Miss., said the company is seeking $8.75 million for the land, which was acquired in the mid-1980s and was approved for a new casino in the mid-1990s.

The land, on the east side of U.S. 395 near the Virginia City cutoff, is being marketed by NAI Hale Day Gallagher Co.

Stillwell said the Reno dynamic has changed dramatically since the company acquired the land, with Indian casinos in California taking market share away from Northern Nevada properties.

Earlier this week, Bear Stearns, New York, upgraded Boyd Gaming's stock from a neutral to an attractive rating. Researchers based the upgrade on the company's acquisition of Delta Downs, a Louisiana race track where 1,500 to 1,700 slot machines are under consideration by regulators, and its partnership with MGM MIRAGE on the Borgata, a 2,000-room resort under construction in Atlantic City, N.J.

The company also has reported growth in its core properties, which include three downtown Las Vegas hotel-casinos, the Stardust on the Las Vegas Strip and Sam's Town in Las Vegas.