Green Valley Ranch dispute dropped

By Steve Green

Thursday, May 27, 2010 | 2 a.m.

Two longtime Las Vegas gaming industry partners, the Greenspun and Fertitta families, have resolved their dispute over the management of Green Valley Ranch Resort.

In a statement issued Wednesday by the Fertittas’ Station Casinos Inc., Station and The Greenspun Corporation announced the Greenspuns’ GCR Gaming LLC company was withdrawing a complaint it filed in February in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The complaint alleged Station had mismanaged the Green Valley Ranch joint venture and had diverted customers from the property to wholly-owned Station properties such as Red Rock Resort.

Station denied the allegations and noted in its response that Green Valley Ranch had drawn business from its wholly-owned properties such as Sunset Station.

Terms of the resolution weren’t disclosed. Station declined to comment beyond the statement, as did The Greenspun Corporation, which owns the Las Vegas Sun.

“With the filing of this voluntary withdrawal, and subject to certain approvals by the bankruptcy court, all claims between entities owned by affiliates of The Greenspun Corporation and Station Casinos Inc. will be resolved and all legal action between the parties dismissed,” the statement said.

The announcement said the Fertittas and the Greenspuns plan to work together to restructure Green Valley Ranch’s debt and another big joint venture, Aliante Station.

Although Station and its subsidiary that manages Green Valley Ranch are in bankruptcy, neither the resort nor Aliante Station are in bankruptcy.

“The Greenspun and Fertitta families have been friends for decades and we have enjoyed a very successful partnership with (Station executives) Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta for over 15 years. We look forward to continuing both our friendship and business relationship with them far into the future,” Greenspun Corporation Chairman Brian Greenspun said in the statement.

“We are pleased that we have been able to resolve all the issues with the Greenspuns and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them for many years to come,” Station Chairman and CEO Frank Fertitta III said.

During a hearing Thursday in Bankruptcy Court in Reno, Station hopes to gain approval for transactions in which 11 of its properties would be auctioned off, with the Fertittas hoping to be the stalking horse bidder, which potentially would avoid low bids for the properties.

Green Valley Ranch and Aliante Station will not be auctioned as part of that process.

Five Station properties — Red Rock, the Wild Wild West and Boulder, Palace and Sunset Stations — would be managed and co-owned by the Fertittas under an arrangement with lenders.

In the Green Valley Ranch case, some of the Greenspun allegations were based on allegations by former general manager Timothy Wright, whom Station described as a disgruntled employee whom it fired late last year.

GV Ranch Station Inc., the Station subsidiary in bankruptcy that manages Green Valley Ranch, accused Wright of trying to extort Station Casinos by going public with false allegations about the movement of high rollers from Green Valley Ranch to Red Rock unless he was paid an extra $162,500 in severance after he was terminated.

Court records show that before the dismissal of the complaint, at least three other witnesses were to be deposed by attorneys for GCR Gaming.

The case took an unexpected twist March 15, when Wright was arrested by Henderson police after an altercation with his girlfriend at their home.