Resort will be squeezed onto plot

The World Wrestling Federation's plans to raze the Debbie Reynolds hotel-casino and build a new 1,000-room wrestling-themed resort should not have any major problems getting past county planning regulators, said a broker working with the WWF.

By Las Vegas standards, the 6.13-acre site is a bit small for such a large resort, said David Atwell, a hotel-casino broker at Resort Properties of America. But a dwindling supply of large undeveloped plots of land in the Strip resort corridor and skyrocketing real estate values are prompting developers to give smaller sites a closer look, said Atwell.

"It's kind of unusual, but times are-a-changing," said Atwell. "It's in the realm of reasonability. It can be done."

In comparison, the Imperial Palace's 2,700 rooms sit on 12 acres, and New York-New York's 2,035 rooms sit on 16 acres, said Atwell. Both of those projects were considered large for their acreage, he said. Most other Las Vegas resorts sit on larger plots, he said.

"Over the years, Vegas has kind of been known for large plots of land," said Atwell.

In any event, there are indications the WWF may try to expand its Las Vegas holdings.

"We are looking at expanding the site," said Atwell.

August Liguori, chief financial officer of WWF owner Titan Sports Inc., said the company has no immediate plans to expand the site.

Atwell was the court-appointed broker of the Debbie Reynolds hotel-casino, and has been working with the WWF on its plan for the site. A joint venture headed by the WWF bought the Debbie Reynolds out of bankruptcy last summer.

A larger site would give the WWF an opportunity to do even more with its resort than currently planned. Liguori said Monday the organization will demolish the Debbie Reynolds and build a 1,000-room, 35-story tower in its place. Amenities will include a 50,000 square-foot casino, wrestling-themed bars and restaurants and a theater with unique entertainment offerings.

Liguori also said the WWF may move its television production facilities to the resort. All WWF television shows are created in-house by a WWF production team, he said. The WWF is headquartered in Stamford, Conn.

However, the site is not big enough for an arena that could hold live wrestling matches, said Liguori. Matches will continue to be held off-site.

Plans also call for a "dramatic" building-sized sign.

"Our (building) design is a very simplistic design," said Liguori. "So our logo ... will be a very large logo."

The idea is to have a sign visible from as far away as the airport. Liguori noted the WWF building will be clearly visible as the tallest structure in its immediate area.

"Let me put it this way, ... you're going to see it," said Liguori. "This is a big building."

Liguori said plans are still being finalized, and will likely be announced within the next couple months. They will not be submitted to Clark County planning regulators until finalized, he said.

Demolition will start within two or three months, and the new resort will be finished in the first or second quarter of 2000, said Liguori. The WWF has not yet decided whether to implode the building or use a more subdued method of destruction, said Liguori.

As for the investment needed to build the resort, Liguori would only say it will likely exceed $100 million. Liguori and other WWF officials are already shopping for financing.

"We went to the Bear, Stearns conference (the American Leisure and Lodging Summit in Las Vegas) last week," said Liguori. "We have been talking to Bear, Stearns and Salomon, Smith Barney."

On a different track, the WWF is close to submitting gaming applications to state gaming regulators, Liguori said.

The resort's plans have evolved somewhat over the last several months, said Liguori. At first, the WWF wanted to incorporate the existing Debbie Reynolds building into its designs.

"We went down this path; it doesn't work," said Liguori. "It's an old building. It's just in very poor condition. It's just wise for us to take it down."

Because the WWF got the property so cheap -- the $10.65 million paid through bankruptcy court is less than the value of the land alone, according to Atwell -- it has more money to spend building its resort.

The WWF is not worried about being able to attract visitors to the off-Strip site, which is on Convention Center Drive near Paradise Road.

"They feel that their brand is so strong that they don't have to have a premier triple-A location," said Atwell. "People will come to them."

"We have a built-in customer base," said Liguori.

Meanwhile, Debbie Reynolds time-share owners are anxiously awaiting a WWF letter that will formally detail the the fate of their investments. About 1,100 people own Debbie Reynolds time-share units.

One time share unit gives its owner the right to stay at the resort for one week each year. Some people, like Paul Rooney, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, bought rights to more than one week. Rooney bought three units, giving him the right to stay at the resort for three weeks a year, for $42,000.

The time-share owners are deeded owners of the Debbie Reynolds property. The WWF was allowed to purchase the resort only by agreeing to honor the time-share deeds.

Liguori said time-share owners will have access to units in the new resort, and will be compensated for their investments while the resort is closed.

"I think the time-share people have been through a rough road for the past several years," said Liguori. "We're trying to keep the inconvenience factor as low as possible."

Compensation options include letting time-share owners accumulate extra weeks for future years, paying for time-share owners to trade their rooms here for rooms at resorts in other parts of the country, or making arrangements for other accommodations in Las Vegas.

That's fine with Rooney, as long as the alternative accommodations are up to time-share standards. Most time-share units are more like small apartments -- including separate living and sleeping spaces and some type of kitchen -- than like hotel rooms.

"I don't want to be paying time-share charges ... for a little hotel room," Rooney said.

Liguori thinks the time-share owners will be happy with the new resort, and if they don't find wrestling to their liking, he argues that they will actually have a better product to sell than the one they own right now.

"We believe the time-share owners will be very happy with this facility," said Liguori. "They will have something that's much more marketable."

archive