UPDATED, Feb. 12, 2021, 2:44 p.m: The real estate arm of Koch Industries is betting big that the casino industry will come roaring back after the pandemic.
Koch Real Estate Investments purchased a Las Vegas casino development that was previously slated to become a $3.1 billion 3,780-room resort project led by Steven Witkoff. That project was slated for completion in 2022, but has been stalled.
The price Koch paid was not disclosed. Koch will partner with Fontainebleu Development, which was involved with developing the project before it went bust during the financial crisis.
The development site, at 2777 South Las Vegas Boulevard, last changed hands in 2017, when Witkoff purchased the property from Carl Icahn for $600 million. Icahn purchased the property out of bankruptcy.
Las Vegas casinos shut down as a result of the pandemic lockdowns in the first half of 2020. In October, Sheldon Adelson, the late casino magnate, was reportedly exploring selling three of his Las Vegas casinos.
The sale could have fetched as much as $6 billion, Bloomberg reported at the time.
[Bloomberg] — Georgia Kromrei
Correction: Due to an error in the source article, this story previously stated that Koch bought a stake in the casino.