Owners of shuttered club accuse Mirage of overcharging
The owners of the now-shuttered B.B. King’s Restaurant & Blues Club will continue their legal battle against former landlord The Mirage.
The restaurant ownership claimed in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Clark County District Court that the resort massively overcharged the operation for stewarding, the back-of-the-house utility functions shared by several dining venues. For example, B.B. King’s attorneys wrote in court papers that the club was charged $380,000 for stewarding compared with $8.8 million in sales, while the Mirage’s buffet was charged only $264,000 on $15.5 million in sales.
In the negotiations leading up to the lease signing and club opening in 2009, B.B. King’s said it was led to believe the charges would be much less.
The Mirage management contended during B.B. King’s unsuccessful Chapter 11 bankruptcy case that the club had always fallen short on rent. This led The Mirage last year to begin keeping tabs that were charged to room accounts, leaving B.B. King’s with too little cash flow to continue.
The club closed in November.
Contact reporter Tim O’Reiley at
toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.
