Future of the IP/Harrah's/Flamingo

[nsidestrate]

I seem to recall a lot of talk a while back that the purchase of the IP was intended to give Harrah's a big chunk of space where they could build a new mega-resort. This is arguably the best corner on the strip, so it makes sense from that perspective. However, I've heard nothing of the sort for some time. Do you know if there are any plans to do something with that spot or if Harrah's will operate it as is for the foreseeable future? Don't they also own a big swath of land on the other side of the monorail behind that area?

[loyo1]

Nside, not Nick, but IP was recently brought into the Harrhas Total Rewards program. It's players' club had continued to function separately despite the Harrahs ownership. Some seem to think this indicates nothing will be done with IP for a few years.

[nsidestrate]

[NickChristenson]

nsidestraight: Yeah, they own the whole Strip frontage from the north end of Harrah's to the south end of Paris. They also own property quite a ways back off the Strip, some is behind the monorail. Hard to build a resort that goes back there, but it's a great place to put employee parking, for example. A few years ago they were talking big about plans for that whole area, then they went private, and the whole thing became very quiet.

The understanding is that going private increased the company's debt load substantially, which makes it hard for them to do big projects. I think loyo1 is right, adding the IP to Total Rewards means that the IP doesn't have a date with a wrecking ball in the immediate future.

Some day Harrah's will do something grand with all that property, but construction won't start this year. They talk like we'll hear about plans this year, but if we did hear anything definite, that would actually surprise me.