Wynn settles dispute with DI Estates homeowners

Monday, March 15, 2004 | 11:21 a.m.

A $23 million deal is expected to settle four years of acrimony and lawsuits between Steve Wynn and the 10 remaining Desert Inn Estates homeowners who had refused to sell the resort developer their residences.

Wynn Las Vegas announced this morning in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it reached a deal on Feb. 23 to buy the 10 remaining homes in Desert Inn Estates.

"The settlement provides that (Wynn Las Vegas) will pay $23 million in exchange for the 10 remaining residences and dismissal by the plaintiffs with prejudice of all of the actions," the Wynn Las Vegas annual report noted.

John Netzorg, the homeowners' lawyer, said this morning that he was prevented from commenting on the deal by a confidentiality agreement, but said he wouldn't dispute any detail of the Wynn Resorts' filing that addressed the matter.

Wynn bought the Desert Inn in 2000 and immediatly began buying Desert Inn Estates homesites.

Homeowner Stephanie Swain and others filed lawsuits against Wynn's company, charging that the developer violated their property rights in their construction of a new Wynn Las Vegas golf course on the site of the old Desert Inn links.

Clark County District Judge Mark Denton ruled in November that residents had no express right to views of the golf course, but also said the developer could not seal the residents off from the course.

The judge also ruled at the time that the residents were not allowed to walk on the golf course.

The disputes between Wynn and the landowners have several times spilled into Clark County Commission meetings, a prospect that the $23 million purchase should eliminate.