Sale of 18 acres on Strip postponed
A trustee’s sale of 18 acres on the Strip across from CityCenter has been postponed six weeks so the land owners can continue negotiations with lenders on a mortgage loan default.
New York-based FX Real Estate & Entertainment, which had planned to develop an Elvis-themed resort on the land, said lenders agreed to postpone the this week’s sale until to Oct. 21, a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said.
FX is “considering all possible legal options, including bankruptcy proceedings, in the event ... discussions with the lenders prove to be unsuccessful,” the filing said.
The company announced in December it had defaulted on a $475 million loan from Credit Suisse. The property has been under the control of a court-appointed receiver since June 23.
The land stretches from the Harley-Davidson Cafe on the corner of Harmon Avenue and the Strip to the Smith & Wollensky building just north of the MGM Grand. The Hawaiian Marketplace, Travelodge and several novelty shops also occupy the land.
The value of the land has dropped to $218.8 million -- compared with the $221.3 million it cost to acquire the land between March 1998 and May 2005 -- the company’s second-quarter filing shows.
FX generated $9.4 million in revenue the first six months of 2009, most in rent from businesses operating on the property. The company announced in September 2008 it was abandoning plans for a Elvis-themed resort due to the "dislocation and turbulence in the capital markets."
FX Chief Executive Paul Kanavos told the New York Post in July: "Las Vegas is in a depression and I do not think there will be any need for additional hotel rooms in the city for at least the next five to seven years."
FX is a partnership led by Robert F.X. Sillerman, whose publicly traded company CKX Inc. owns the name and image of Elvis Presley and the operation of Graceland.
The company was removed from the Nasdaq National Market in May after falling below the required $10 million in stockholders’ equity level.
The company has had its stock price fall from its initial offering date high of $10.02 per share on Jan. 10, 2007, to 6 cents per share today on the Pink Sheets for a market value of $3.12 million.
