Tropicana parent has seen better days

It wasn't a good week for Tropicana parent Columbia Sussex Corp.

First, the privately held, Fort Mitchell, Ky.-based company hired its third chief financial officer in less than a year; the previous two had quit.

Also, New Jersey gaming authorities spent several days conducting a combative licensing renewal hearing concerning the company's stewardship of the Tropicana Atlantic City,

In Las Vegas, the Tropicana is the last union-represented hotel-casino on the Strip that has not reached a new collective bargaining agreement with Culinary Local 226, fueling speculation of a strike by the resort's work force. Meanwhile, Columbia Sussex is trying to renegotiate its bank loans while securing financing for a $2.5 billion redevelopment of the Tropicana Las Vegas.

But in Cincinnati, Columbia Sussex is revered. The company reached the top of the Deloitte Cincinnati USA 100, which recognizes area businesses for their "tremendous economic and civic contribution." Columbia Sussex's corporate headquarters is just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati.

In an interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbia Sussex CEO Bill Yung III "playfully tweaked" Pinnacle Entertainment, the Las Vegas-based company he outbid in acquiring former Tropicana parent Aztar Corp. for $2.75 billion in 2006.

Yung said national economic woes have complicated Columbia's redevelopment plans for the Tropicana. He is confident financing will be arranged and the Tropicana will be turned into a 10,200-room hotel starting next year.

Tamares Las Vegas Properties, owner of the boarded-up Nevada Hotel, isn't saying much about the work being done on the shuttered property at Main Street and Bridger Avenue. Tamares, which also owns the Plaza, Las Vegas Club and Western Hotel, has workers hauling junk out of the hotel.

Tamares has been the subject of speculation but little actual news recently. Its properties are in prime position to profit from the revival of the Fremont Street gambling market. Company officials, however, aren't revealing plans. Work at the Nevada Hotel described in one online review as "a flophouse at best," is demolition only, with no permits for renovations or upgrades.

International Leisure Development, a British company, said it wants to build a Las Vegas-style city on nearly 5,000 acres in eastern Spain over the next decade. The project was estimated at 12.2 billion in British pounds (or more than $25.37 billion in American dollars).

The project will include 32 hotels, five theme parks, a stadium and a conference center. A formal announcement is expected next month.

The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Review-Journal gaming and tourism writers Howard Stutz, Benjamin Spillman and Arnold M. Knightly. Send your tips about the gaming and tourism industry to inside gaming@reviewjournal.com.