Fontainebleau Las Vegas’ Tragic Timing

The tragic Fontainebleau Las Vegas may not be seeing a light in the end of the tunnel quite yet, but perhaps a glimmer of hope is shining through.

South Florida developer and Haute Living cover profile Jeffrey Soffer is trying to sell the Vegas tower to Penn National Gaming, a casino operator that doesn’t currently own property on the Vegas Strip. Soffer has spent $2 billion on construction thus far, and an estimated $1.5 billion is still needed to finish the project that launched long ago in 2007’s glory days of prosperity.

The Miami Herald reported that Soffer’s lawyer Scott Baena said Pen National Gambling has offered “substantially” less than $300 million for the unfinished project. Obviously, they are well aware of all the hurdles ahead in order to finally be able to fill the 4,000-room hotel with guests.

Baena is clearing the way for a bankruptcy court auction of the property and wants to present the judge presiding over the case with a final deal soon. Miami bankruptcy Judge A. Jay Cristol toured the unfinished casino tower’s construction site and called it a “magnificent project” that fell victim to tragic timing, according to the Herald.

This project needs to be finished one way or another. Judge Cristol seems to not have much faith in Penn National Gambling when he said, “Negotiations are wonderful, but we have a saying in South Florida: Show me the money.” Maybe he heard about how they pulled out of a deal for a casino in Kansas last year.

Via: The Miami Herald