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Elad Group to buy New Frontier in Las Vegas
Message was posted: 02:53 May 17th, 2007

User: vegasqueen Rank: Casino Gold: 28510CG Contributor rating: 71920 Status: Offline

Casino news source: LA Times - http://www.latimes.com Elad Group to buy New Frontier in Las Vegas From the Associated Press May 17, 2007 LAS VEGAS — The owner of New York's Plaza hotel announced plans Wednesday to buy the New Frontier hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip and replace it with a $5-billion multiuse complex. Elad Group intends to build a luxury hotel with about 3,500 rooms, private residences, retail space and a casino bearing the Plaza brand, said Miki Naftali, Elad's president. The complex is projected to open in 2011. Naftali called the 34.5-acre site across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Wynn hotel-casino "the last available prime parcel on the Las Vegas Strip." Billionaire Phil Ruffin, owner of the 984-room New Frontier, said Elad would pay about $1.2 billion for the property. Plans call for the Frontier to be demolished in early 2008. Ruffin bought the cowboy-themed New Frontier in 1998 for $165 million. The site is near where Wynn Resorts Ltd. is building the $2.1-billion Encore resort-casino, due to open in 2009, and Boyd Gaming Corp. is planning the $4.4-billion Echelon complex, scheduled for a 2010 opening. The deal does not include the seven acres on which Ruffin has partnered with Donald Trump to develop two 1,283-unit condominium-hotel projects. The first Trump tower is expected to be topped off later this month, and reservations are being taken on the second. "Donald and I are delighted that this is going to happen, because it enhances our two properties to have the Plaza next to us, instead of the Frontier," Ruffin said. The purchase price — about $35 million an acre — raises the bar for land values along the Strip, Deutsche Bank analyst Bill Lerner said. MGM Mirage Inc. announced last month that it would pay about $17 million per acre for 34 acres of undeveloped land north of its Circus Circus hotel-casino. The Plaza in New York, which was acquired by Elad in 2004 for $650 million, was closed in 2005 to renovate it into a mixed-use property of condominiums, retail space and some hotel rooms. It is set to reopen in September.

Elad Group to buy New Frontier in Las Vegas
Message was posted: 01:43 May 18th, 2007

User: vegasqueen Rank: Casino Gold: 28510CG Contributor rating: 71920 Status: Offline

Casino news source: KVBC - http://www.kvbc.com What will take the place of the Frontier? May 18, 2007 11:14 AM EDT What will take the place of the Frontier? Also on KVBC.com History of The Frontier Plaza hotel owner announces plan to buy New Frontier in Las Vegas Imagine making a billion-dollar profit in a single transaction; that's what happened Wednesday with the sale of the New Frontier Hotel-Casino. Now, with another implosion on the horizon, we're digging deeper into what's ahead for that prime piece of real estate. The Frontier's doors will close in 60 days; we're learning that's the new owner has a track record of creating some very glamorous, very high-end projects. Elad Properties, owned by an Israeli billionaire, is spending $1.2 billion to buy the New Frontier. Elad's website says their projects are for millionaires only, with luxury condo towers in places like New York City. The company is currently renovating the historic Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, turning it into state-of-the-art condominiums. We discovered, however, that regular customers of the New Frontier are divided on whether more glitz and glamour is needed on The Strip. Some say they are disgusted by the trend toward bigger and fancier hotels that are way beyond their budget. Billionaire Phil Ruffin has owned the Frontier since 1997; with The Strip evolving, he knew the hotel's days were numbered. Previous concepts considered for the Frontier property included a London theme, another one called the Montreaux, and finally, a third idea based on the San Francisco Bay Area. Whatever the new owner ends up doing, you can bet it won't have bingo, live mud wrestling or bikini bull riding - just a few of the things the New Frontier has been famous for. Most of the employees at the New Frontier learned about the deal Tuesday night; all of them will be out of a job within 90 days.