Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleGAMING:
Fontainebleau developer lays off 40 employees
Monday, May 18, 2009 | 7:16 p.m.
Sun Archives
- Contractor sues Fontainebleau over firing, says it’s owed money (5-14-09)
- Fontainebleau: Bank wanted to minimize Cosmopolitan competition (5-12-09)
- Fontainebleau glazing contractor no stranger to overcoming adversity (5-6-2009)
- Fontainebleau workers laid off amid funding concerns (4-30-2009)
- Union: Banks putting jobs in jeopardy over Fontainebleau (4-29-2009)
- Sued by Fontainebleau, banks could cite ‘act of God’ as defense for refusing funds (4-29-2009)
Sun Coverage
The company developing the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau Resort in Las Vegas laid off about 40 people Monday, or about 20 to 25 percent of its staff, a spokesman said.
These layoffs are on top of what potentially were thousands of construction workers laid off at the resort due to a funding dispute with banks. Some 3,300 construction workers were employed at the site prior to the funding dispute erupting last month, but that number appears to have dwindled to the hundreds as contractors maintain just skeletal staffs at the site.
Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC itself continues to employ people in positions such as information technology, convention sales and construction and development, spokesman Dave Satterfield said.
Of the layoffs, he said, "This is a direct consequence of the banks pulling their funding."
Fontainebleau sued several banks, including Bank of America, last month over the funding dispute tied to an alleged, unspecified breach of the lending agreement by Fontainebleau. However, negotiations continue with Bank of America on the financing issue, Satterfield said.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Superstar Whitney Houston dies at 48
- UNLV can move forward without the burden of losing streak to San Diego State
- A wife’s wisdom shows birth control issue needn’t be divisive
- UNLV makes key plays down stretch to hold off San Diego State 65-63
- Surprise links, negotiated deals addressed by commissioners
- Hope and change and … what’s missing?
- Motorcycle accident claims life of man in northeast valley
- New York mayor has the right idea
- We don’t need a CEO in charge
- Paying our own way
Blogs
The Kats Report
Color from scene at Thomas & Mack: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
South Point owner Michael Gaughan's take on 'Vegas Stripped': 'I'll give it an 8' (4 Comments)
Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman (3 Comments)
Elsewhere
Landowner: All roads could lead to Uxbridge casino
Revel reveals smoke-free casino opening
Cirque du Soleil show in Sands China casino to close this month
Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
OMG, 40 people let go. Is this posturing or what??
Las Vegas will come back as a tourist destination just fine. The banks are really short sighted. When it came to Enron, they sure seemed to be there loaning money like crazy, but when it comes to mortgages they are so inflexible.
"vegas is recession-proof" and "we're near the bottom".
oh, if i had a $1.00 for every blowhard in a suit that has said that over the last 8 months.
i could buy me one of them there hype-rise condos.
It's not the 40 jobs, but that they may have to shut it down. Another domino.
The interesting question for those reporting on the Fontainebleu is: Have the lenders filed a foreclosure notice at the County Hall yet?
If not, something very weird is going on. First the lenders cut off all the money. Then the general contractor and subcontractor quit working at the site. Then the borrower sues the lenders. Now 40 employees working on development paperwork get laid off.
Yet there's no word from the mortgage lenders, in terms of starting foreclosure.
Yet the borrower/building owner hasn't filed bankruptcy, as far as anyone knows. [Hint to reporters: Start checking developer/building owner name for bankruptcy filings in Florida.]
There's also no word of negotiations between the borrower and the lenders.
What are they waiting for? Snow in June?
Something strange is going on, and the Las Vegas press is not getting the story. Note to Sun Staff: Time to start digging into the status of things. Start with the Assessor's Parcel Numbers for the hotel site, get the property owner's name and then do two things: Check the County Recorder's office for foreclosure against that owner entity, and go on LEXIS/NEXIS and check for bankruptcy for the owner entity in jurisdictions other than Las Vegas. Or do I have to do that for you?
You're not a Cynical Observer, you're an Astute Observer!!!
Nice C O.
Another article that leaves more questions than answers. A very large project is slowly and silently shutting down and there is almost no meaningful reporting on it.
I'm not interested in quotes where FB representatives point fingers at the banks - I'm interested in a real investigation into why the funding was pulled in the first place and whether or not it is anywhere near likely that the funding will come back. I'm not interested in regurgitated comments from FB pr people saying they are committed to finishing the project this year - I'm interested in knowing if there is actually any meaningful work going on, are subcontractors really pulling workers and job trailers off the site (and if so, which ones), and what does the General Contractor have to say about this mess.
This is a big deal for a lot of people and it would be nice to see some solid investigative journalism in action.
SAD VERY SAD WEST COAST DETROIT