Troubled Del Mar is sold

Thursday, June 16, 2005 | 11:08 a.m.

The adult children of Olympic Garden topless club owner Pete Eliades have purchased the Del Mar Motel, located a couple of buildings up the street from the strip club on Las Vegas Boulevard, for future development.

Eliades said the motel will be torn down and eventually sold or developed. There's no deal yet in the works to do either, he said. The property sold for $5 million, county records show.

The Del Mar, at 1411 Las Vegas Blvd., was forced to close last month after the city stripped its business license. City officials and police alleged that prostitution was rampant and encouraged at the Del Mar, which rented rooms by the hour and offered boxes of condoms to customers.

The motel was the site of a four-month sting operation that involved officers posing as prostitutes. The property had a sordid past that includes a murder and various sex crimes.

The motel site won't be used as part of the Olympic Garden and could potentially feature a high-rise building, Eliades said.

"We don't have any deals but we could find someone tomorrow," he said.

Eliades said his children -- Delores, Aphrodite and Telly -- own the property.

"I'm 72 years old," he said. "I'm doing this to help them out."

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