Caesars Entertainment completes $35 mil. purchase of land near Strip

Thursday, July 29, 2004 | 10:55 a.m.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. recently purchased about 7 acres of land behind its Bally's hotel-casino that it may use for future development.

The $35 million sale was recorded the day before Harrah's Entertainment Inc. announced it would buy Caesars for about $9.4 billion, creating the world's largest casino company.

The price appears steep for land that had long served as a parking lot for casino employees but is fair considering its location near the Strip and the fact that Caesars now controls an entire block behind the resort, Las Vegas casino broker David Atwell said.

Caesars bought the land from a family trust that had owned the land for many years and had leased it as parking. More recently, Venetian owner Sheldon Adelson had rented the space to use as overflow parking for workers, Atwell said. The parcel lies on the southwest corner of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane.

The sale marks final action on a longtime plan to control the land behind the combined Bally's and Paris resorts for potential redevelopment, Caesars spokesman Robert Stewart said. The company will now control about 25 acres of land behind the properties, he said.

The company has also considered the front of Bally's, which does not immediately border the Las Vegas Strip, as a future redevelopment site, he said.

Stewart declined to elaborate on what the company might build in either location.

Caesars has disclosed its interest in acting as a landlord for a potential baseball stadium that investors have proposed building behind the Bally's and Paris resorts. The investors have presented a plan to lure the Montreal Expos, which are looking for a new home, to Las Vegas.

Caesars already had enough land to accommodate a stadium before this purchase, Atwell said. A high rise condominium or "condo-hotel" such as the one under way by Turnberry Associates behind MGM Grand, is a more likely option for the land, he said.

As part of the recent merger agreement with Harrah's, Caesars is prevented from making major business decisions on its own that were not already under way before the deal and also can't make moves that could in any way trip up the approval process.

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