Las Vegas Plaza Casino: Progress Report

Two Israeli businessmen, Nochi Dankner and Yitzhak Tshuva, are planning to build a 5-7 billion Plaza hotel and casino complex on the Strip in Las Vegas.

Odds not in favor
Now, in the uncertain financial tsunami engulfing the world, there are concerns that the project is "high-risk" and the banks are taking a step back, talking about the project's risk to size ratio, exposure to the falling real estate market in Las Vegas exposure to liquidity risk related to financial institutions' willingness to extend credit in view of the credit crisis in the US.

Work still needed
Construction is expected to take 4-5 years after building permits are obtained. The companies have yet to sign a financing agreement for the project.

Current data reveals that Nevada is experiencing its first earnings drop since 2001. The casino industry of Las Vegas and the state's casino industry at large have seen a nearly 5 percent decrease in their revenue in January, compared with the same month last year. Their take, however, was still exceptionally high, at $1.06 billion.

The decrease elsewhere around Nevada, in places such as Reno and North Lake Tahoe, was even more dramatic, down 9.4 percent.

The bottom line
It seems that on this progress report, the bottom line is that there is no significant progress.

A closer look through a financial perspective could lead to an even less favorable conclusion, namely that progress is reversed altogether.