Casino news source: The Wichita Eagle - http://www.kansas.com
Ruffin finds 1.2 billion reasons to sell casino
Phil Ruffin was modest when he joined the billionaire's club back in 2004 by making Forbes magazine's annual list.
"Let me assure you," he said, "it's not cash."
This time, it is.
El Ad Properties, the same group that owns the Plaza Hotel in New York, has made Ruffin a $1.2 billion offer for his New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
So it wasn't hard for Ruffin to abandon his own plans for a new casino there.
"Easiest thing in the world," he says.
The deal isn't done, but Ruffin expects it to work out. If it does, it'll be quite a return on his $165 million 1997 investment.
The Frontier is on the north end of the Vegas strip, where property values have soared.
Steve Wynn's new Wynn hotel and casino is across the street.
"Steve just called me a few minutes ago in congratulations," Ruffin says.
Wynn was once an investor in the Frontier, which was built in 1942. Another billionaire, Howard Hughes, once was, too. And it was the first place Elvis Presley played in Vegas.
Ruffin owns 40 acres there, two of which he and buddy Donald Trump are using for their Trump International Hotel and Tower.
Ruffin was going to use the remaining 38 acres for a new hotel and casino.
"We had the financing lined up and ready to go," he says. "Then they came in with this huge offer."
If he sells his casino, Ruffin will "spend a lot more time back in Wichita," but he's hardly leaving Las Vegas.
He'll remain a partner in the Trump Towers, and he has other interests there as well, though he's not saying what.
Ruffin also still has nine hotels, a manufacturing company and extensive real estate holdings to keep him busy.
His $1.2 billion probably would not remain cash for long.
"I'm not sure exactly how we'll invest the money," Ruffin says.
But it doesn't look like he's going to run out and spend it on extravagant purchases.
"Yachts make me seasick, so that's out," he says. "I already have two airplanes. I don't know if I need three."
A day at the Beach
Michelle Borin has filed a lawsuit in Sedgwick County District Court against Derby, the mayor and council members for placing new restrictions on her Michelle's Beach House.
"They're trying to run her out of business for their political gain," says Charley O'Hara, Borin's attorney. "They should be ashamed."
O'Hara says the city made final approvals on Borin's new location in the heart of the city on Feb. 7. Then, he says, a new ordinance was approved Feb. 27 that restricts several of the ways the Beach House operates. For instance, the dancers now "have to wear more than one would at a swimming pool."
Also, there now has to be a 4-foot barrier between the stage and patrons, which O'Hara says would force Borin to remodel again.
"She's put a million dollars into that business, and we're going to fight it as long and as hard as we have to," he says. "This kind of behavior has to stop with these politicians."
But Derby Mayor Dion Avello says it's the behavior at the Beach House that has to stop.
"We are just sending the message that Derby doesn't want that kind of establishment inside the city limits," he says. "The city was forced into approving it by state law."
He says citizens have come to council meetings to complain about Borin and her dancers.
"Of course, they didn't want her in town," he says. "Would you want them next door to your house?"
O'Hara says that's not the point.
"People have a right to do what they want to do as long as they don't hurt any other people," he says.
Borin has a temporary restraining order against the city, which will permit her to continue doing business as she has been until a judge issues a ruling on a temporary injunction and the case then goes to trial.
"I guess they think they can treat her differently," O'Hara says. "They wouldn't do that to any other business."
Harrison's hangout
If you hang out at Carlos O'Kelly's near Kellogg and Ridge Road long enough, it seems you're bound to run into Harrison Ford sooner or later.
Ford, of course, is a pilot who often visits Wichita for flight training. And O'Kelly's is often one of his dining choices, as it was Wednesday for lunch.
"Of course, Harrison faced the wall and had sunglasses on when he was walking," says general manager Kelly Taylor.
He wore a hat, too.
"He's kind of a grumpy guy," Taylor says. She says she bumped into him, and, "He just kind of turned and walked away and grunted.
"I think he just likes to not be bothered," she says.
Taylor thinks that might be why he likes coming to the restaurant.
"We leave him alone -- just let him eat," she says.
Although, she adds, the cooks got especially excited about making him lunch, which was an enchilada, taco, rice, beans and atomic salsa. "He likes it hot," Taylor says.
One of the cooks asked if he could run home and get a Star Wars poster for Ford to sign.
"Nope, you gotta stay and cook," Taylor told him.
To which he said: "I'm going to have it in my trunk to have it ready for the next time."
You don't say
"Would you care to respond to the rumor that Bill Warren is leading a write-in campaign? Talk about finishing third in a two-man race."
--CCIM president Tony Utter joking to mayoral candidate Carl Brewer (who remained silent) after he and Mayor Carlos Mayans spoke at the group's quarterly meeting Wednesday. |
|
