Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Published Monday, July 12, 2010 | 5:05 p.m.
Updated Monday, July 12, 2010 | 6:09 p.m.
Sun Archives
- Riviera stays mum on report of Starwood takeover (3-26-10)
- Riviera loses $4.5 million, says bankruptcy possible (3-17-10)
- As earnings fall, Riviera unsure if bankruptcy can be avoided (11-9-09)
- Riviera skips another interest payment (7-8-09)
- Riviera misses interest payment, warns of possible bankruptcy (3-31-09)
Riviera Holdings Corp., owner of casinos in Las Vegas and Colorado, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Monday -- the latest in a series of gaming industry bankruptcies during the current recession.
Also filing for reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Las Vegas were subsidiaries Riviera Operating Corp. and Riviera Black Hawk Inc. These companies own the Riviera hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip and the Riviera Black Hawk in Colorado.
In court papers, attorneys for Riviera said its planned restructuring is supported by holders of more than two-thirds of its $247.7 million in debt under its June 2007 Senior Credit Facility.
A Riviera Las Vegas hotel-casino spokeswoman said the company had no immediate comment on the filing, and attorneys for the bankrupt company could not immediately be reached for comment.
But because this is a Chapter 11 filing backed by the key creditors, it's likely the Riviera Las Vegas and the Riviera Black Hawk will operate normally through the bankrupty process.
In court papers, the company said it also has liabilities under a securities hedging agreement of $27.9 million.
The value of the company has declined in the recession and its assets are worth less than its liabilities, Riviera said in its filing.
In describing Monday's filings, Riviera attorneys wrote: "Debtors were faced with declining hotel and casino revenues based on reduced consumer spending, a tightening credit market, and an overall weakening economy.
"Most of these market-driven challenges manifested after the debtors leveraged themselves with the Senior Credit Facility and the secured hedging agreement, thus leaving the debtors in a highly precarious position at a time when they most needed robust financial performance."
It wasn't immediately known if real estate investor Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group LLC had participated in the restructuring.
Bloomberg News reported in March that Sternlicht, formerly a big player on the Las Vegas Strip, had said Starwood Capital and other investors had bought control of Riviera’s first mortgage for about 50 cents on the dollar and was leading creditors negotiating a pre-packaged bankruptcy.
On May 17, Riviera Holdings said it lost $4.5 million as revenue fell in the first quarter.
The loss, amounting to 36 cents per share, compared to a loss in the year-ago quarter of $1 million or 8 cents per share.
Net revenue of $30.8 million was down from $34.7 million in the year-ago quarter.
In the first quarter, revenue at the 2,075-room Riviera Las Vegas of $20.5 million was down from $24.4 million in the 2009 quarter. At the Riviera in Black Hawk, Colo., with 750 slot machines and a dozen gaming tables, revenue of $10.3 million was up from $10.2 million.
Amid tough competition on the Las Vegas Strip, Riviera said its room revenue there of $8.4 million tumbled 18.4 percent as the average daily room rate fell about 20 percent to $55.69. Room occupancy of 82.2 percent was up from 76.8 percent.
Monday's filing followed several other high-profile bankruptcies and debt defaults in the gaming industry including those of Tropicana Entertainment, Herbst Gaming, Fontainebleau Las Vegas, Station Casinos, Majestic Star Casino, Planet Hollywood Las Vegas, Hooters Las Vegas, the Greek Isles and Black Gaming.
With its glass, star-lit exterior, visitors can't miss the Riviera when driving down the Strip. As the first high-rise to open on the Las Vegas Strip, featuring a nine-story hotel, the Riviera has seen more than 50 years as an entertainment destination in Las Vegas. Top bill acts like Liberace, Dean Martin and the long-running Splash revue (closed in 2006) have graced its showrooms over time.
The Riviera still offers its share of entertainment options with topless revue "Crazy Girls," a comedy club and "Illusions," starring Jan Rouven.
The 100,000-square foot casino has been featured in many films like "Casino," "Austin Powers" and "21." Although the hotel has passed through a long list of owners over the years it has always held on to it's unique theme (for Las Vegas) in that it lacks any particular theme. It also features a William Hill Race & Sports Book walk-up betting window right off the sidewalk on the Strip.
The Riviera has dining options well covered, from seafood and steaks at R Steak and Seafood, a variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner fare at Banana Leaf Café to an international cuisine at the R Buffet.
Ah, another casino group is going to screw it's creditors.
City Center is open and the guests are spread out amongst all the hotels. Many more will go the same route. There just aren't enough visitors spending enough to continue as done in the past.
California is getting worse economically and that has a huge effect on this city.
No big surprise here, This property has been in the toilet for a few years now. It used to be a gas! but, all things must come to an end sooner or later..
They screw Gamblers everday, why not it's creditors too! I'll bet this casino and The sahara will be the next two casinos to close and be gone with the wind.
city center is a beautiful hotel and property. Don't listen to the bad reviews. See it your self. I stayed in a corner suite on the 18th floor. It was awesome. The service was top notch. The drinks and food are expensive - its a five star joint people.
I hope the Riviera sticks around. Unlike City Center, it actually looks interesting instead of like the corporate offices of an insurance conglomerate.
The Riv. was my first experience in a casino.
The 60s and 70s were the best of times.
The flare, lights and shows were the best on the strip.
They should have used the Riv. as the mob museum
Vegas and the people change but I have the memories.
wolf85023 :
I'm with ya on that! We got memories that nobody who wasn't there will ever have. Vegas was the sh&% in those days huh?
Will be owned by Harrah's within a week.
If not that, it will be closed by the end of the year.
To say the property has been in the toilet is an understatement! I remember an article a while back where they were trying to tout about how they were investing in the property by a laying-off a chunk of kitchen staff and replacing them with a machine that mixed various powders and water to automatically dispense whatever type of gravy an entree would need. As if that's supposed to not only ease creditor's minds, but also appeal to patrons who would be eating processed, powdered food products instead of actual meals! Yeah, smooth move, Riviera.
Good customer service is all in perception. Example: If you only ever ate in fast food joints where you had to get your own drinks, then a server @ Denny's refilling your drink for you might just seem "top-notch" if only by comparison. Now if someone has what they consider a good experience, then great. But compared not just to other hotels, but the former glory the Riviera itself had back in it's heyday, it just doesn't own up to what it should be.
Isn't it interesting. Several major gaming companies are in the midst of bankruptycy proceedings. Many creditors are losing their shirts on their investment in said companies and yet, salaries and bonuses for upper managment keeps going up.
I loved the Riveria and went there for years. 3 years ago, probably at the decision of someone long gone, they took out the old time Keno machines and the Keno Board. No reason to go through the hazzle of the Strip for machines that everyone has and NO Keno Board. They replaced the Keno Area for those kids playing Poker. Like any local, they were not making a huge profit on me but multiply me X thousands who left them, its bankruptcy.
The Riviera should be imploded and the lot cleared.........this is a clear case where the dirt is worth more than the buildings that sit on it............imagine having a vacant lot that runs from LV Blvd to Paradise Rd......one could do quite a bit with a blank canvass......and it isn't worth trying to salvage parts of a 30/40/50 year old building.
Boyd & Wynn tore down the old beaters and built new.........the Riv property should go the same way.
all you have to do is go to this place at check-in time on saturday morning.
complete disaster. instead of hiring PEOPLE for the check-in process, they have a bunch of kiosks.
and of course...almost every single person mumbles the same thing "it says it can't find my reservation".
I remember the completion and grand opening of the Riviera as the first high rise hotel on the Las Vegas strip.
It was amazing to see it rise so many stories as there was no resort at the time whose rooms structure was over two stories.
Those were the days.
Bertsos, why so quick to want to implode. The Riv may be older and not as "chic" as the high dollar properties to the South, but it does offer a look at what Vegas used to be, neon and glitter. The Stardust was similar, look at the mess it became. The whole Stardust, Frontier, Westward Ho area has become a picture of what's wrong on the strip. I say if the Riv, Trop, Circus Circus, Flamingo, etc. bring back a little of old Las Vegas and market their heritage, they might be surprised how profitable they could be.
They don't need another Bellagio or another City Center or Wynn/Encore. All nice places, but the high end is saturated right now, actually dragging some previous higher end properties (Luxor, TI) down to competing with the Rivieras and Saharas.
And stevem is right, those check-in kiosks need to go, or at the very least, be offered only as an option to those who don't want to wait in line.
They have interesting videopoker machines left over. Hard to find on the Strip these days. Plus, if you go to the Gambler's General Store to pick up a copy of the American Casino Guide, you will find inside of the book a coupon with a 25 dollar free slot play after playing through 50 dollars. If you pick the right machines with great paytables this coupon is basically worth more than you will pay for the entire American Casino Guide. Then, you will have to walk on to the Sahara where you can also use one of the coupons for a 25 dollar craps match play, and to finish your mission, go to Ellis Island, use the 2-for-1 meal coupon and on your way home , pass by at the Casiurana (Westin) for the next 25 dollar match play and then at Bill's where you at least have a 10 dollar match play. This entire mission will take you less than 2 hours but you should expect to win at least 2 coupons, thus, clearing 40-50 dollars plus a great coupon book from the Riviera trip should be an easy picking :)
From Switzerland
I love the smell of carpet stink in the morning.
Boo-Hoo I'm heart broken if they go under.
The Stardust was way nice than the RIv ever was.
reorganize and buy more casino
The Robert Plant of Casinio's
What I would do if I was a billionaire is to purchase the Riviera, tear down all of the eye sore development which was added over the years around the original Miami stye towers and return the property to it's original Miami style boutique feel. The gamblers and tourists would come pouring back!!
It's a great location for a low end hotel and casino.
location is killing riv, nobody walks north of encore anymore, that area needed echelon and fblue, the fact that it got neither means its only going to get worse and worse up that end
btw any hotel torn down in this economy will remain an empty lot for decades
You cannot only blame the economy and the declining tourist volume for the Riv's problems. It has been totally mismanaged for the past decade, or even longer, and the Management had no interest in building the business...only building their individual compensation packages. No marketing presence, no involved and informed management, and a group of bondholders who abdicated their responsibilities. The Board of Directors should all be replaced. The real truth is known inside the gaming industry. It is a shame.
The Riv may have been nice in the 60s or 70s (I wouldn't know), but it's dump now. With gaming in 48 states, who in their right mind would spend money to come to Las Vegas and stay at the Riv?
"Most of these market-driven challenges manifested after the debtors leveraged themselves with the Senior Credit Facility and the secured hedging agreement, thus leaving the debtors in a highly precarious position at a time when they most needed robust financial performance."
And What did they spend the leveraged money on that they can sell today? Bonus's deferred income maybe.
Some of these investors deserved to be fleeced it seems to me that there is some business school somewhere pumping out these types of managers they rape the company until it goes into bankruptcy then move on to some other place to repeat they same these types of managers are Cyborgs.
Not sure if the smell at the Riv is beer or pee.
cinderelladream,
Uh, he ain't dead yet.
What a craphole. And for the first poster above, Riv isn't screwing their creditors...their creditors simply made a bad investment and screwed themselves.
The place and location suck. Complete Dump. Knock it over and leave it as a surface lot. It is not needed.
Wolf85023, could not agree more. Bertsos, You have a lot of empty lots on the North end of the Strip now. Where on the strip is Boyds now? Gettocard, typical Italian!
Knocking down the 'Dust,then having Echelon and FB stalled are killing the Riv. Do they still have the 'energy surcharge'? I guess the Riv will be immortalized in 'Casino',but its day has passed.
the small places just can not compete with the big boys. it's just math.
they had a failed nightclub, c and d list shows, total cheeseball shops, and a buffet that i could get at golden corral.
they need to go to a niche hotel. if they made it a pet-friendly hotel or a gay/transgender hotel they would do awesome.
Should've bowed out gracefully a few years ago.
Surly,old cocktail waitresses from rat pack days that resent taking care of customers & decor to match. Nothin' neat about the Riv anymore. Let it die.
I liked stopping at Slots-a-Fun crossing the parking lot, on hot summer days on my way from the jewelry store or steak joint, in the Circus Circus.
You screw heads keep your hands off, you hear me?
Times have changed. The old resorts simply cannot compete with the newer ones unless they are willing to spend the money to make significant expansions, renovations and reinvent themselves the way The Tropicana is. Unfortunately, it is too late for the Sahara and Riviera to do this. These hotels are in an underdeveloped and unpopular location on the Strip. Starwood will eventually implode The Riviera and build something new or sell the land to Steve Wynn. He is looking to build a third hotel someday...you can quote me on that. It is already on the drawing board. He knows Fountainbleu with Carl Icahn's ownership will be intense competition for him once it opens. With The Sahara and Riviera gone, the North End of the Strip will be revitalized by Starwood Group, Wynn and Icahn someday.
@Boris:
Great posting, Boris, nice to see you are back in business.
But as far as I am concerned, sorry, but mission impossible, since its2hot for me right now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryRgOU76V...
Regards
Banana_Joe
LasVegas9,I totally agree! I do,however,wonder what will happend to Echelon? I do not see that being completed.
Remember the Fontainebleau sold a few months ago for $150M?
The Riviera opened on April 20, 1955 and traded hands 4 or 5 times over the last 55 years. Today, the Riv carries about $280,000,000 worth of debt! Whatever happened to the concept of equity? The only way these older properties can survive and make a profit is without the debt - period!
We read the same theme about the drop in player/rev and visitors - all true, but the real problems began when our Nation's top biz/schools pumped the model of max-leveraging!
The $280M had to go somewhere because it sure wasn't used for refurbishment. Back in the 1970's when the Riv was controlled by the Mafia, they would have called that a "Bust-Out".
Good. I hope MGM/MIRAGE is next followed by Harrah's Entertainment. I HATE what vegas has become. A monopolized suckers haven with tight slots, 6/5 BJ and 22 year olds walking around like high rollers.
I have been coming to Vegas for over 30 years and actually stayed at the Riviera a few times. In its hay days when the Chicago mob ran the casinos it was a blast to stay there. Time marches on and when the Chicago mob died so did alot of the old time Vegas casinos. That end of the strip is in bad shape and another empty lot looks like it will be popping up soon. Thank You Riviera for all the good times!!
I stayed at the Riviera recentlyand my wife and I both realized something was wrong with the employees. Each visit before the employees at the crap table and blackjack tables were fun to be with and made it a very enjoyable experience. This time their minds were not on the game and were somewhere else. Now I know why. Too bad. I really enjoyed my time at the Riviera over the years. We will be heading back to vegas next month and decided to stay somewhere else.
Demolish the place and put in a Walgreen's and an Apple store.
water park
I stayed at the Rivera on Superbowl weekend. True, it is an old place but their Superbowl party/food/ambience was terrific.