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Dec. 15, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Treasure Island deal set

Ex-New Frontier owner to buy casino

By HOWARD STUTZ
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Phil Ruffin
Kansas businessman had owned the New Frontier

Former New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin is buying the Treasure Island from MGM Mirage for $775 million, sources confirmed Sunday night. The deal is expected to be announced today.

Ruffin, a Wichita, Kan., businessman, sold the New Frontier in May 2007 for more than $1.24 billion to Elad Group. The aging casino was closed in July 2007 and demolished in November 2007.

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    • MGM Mirage officials would not comment on the deal and Ruffin could not be reached. The transaction is a surprise, coming in the middle of the current global credit crisis that has dried up lending markets to the gaming industry. Also, other development projects have stalled, most notably Boyd Gaming Corp.'s $4.8 billion Echelon, which was shut down in August and may be postponed until 2010.

    Ruffin owns the seven acres of land that houses the $1.2 billion Trump International Hotel & Tower. He is considered a part owner in the 1,282-unit hotel and condominium tower with New York billionaire Donald Trump. He appeared at the property's opening ceremony in April.

    MGM Mirage acquired Treasure Island as part of the company's $6.4 billion purchase of Mirage Resorts in 2000. The pirate-themed casino was opened in 1993 by Steve Wynn at a cost of $450 million as a sister resort to The Mirage.

    Treasure Island has 2,885 rooms, including 220 suites, and a 90,000-square-foot casino.

    Under Wynn's ownership, the Strip resort catered to families and featured live-action pirate battles every 90 minutes in Buccaneer Bay at the front of the resort.

    MGM Mirage abandoned the family theme in 2003 for a more contemporary adult-oriented theme and marketed itself as TI. "The Sirens of TI" replaced the whimsical pirate battle.

    Ruffin paid $167 million for the New Frontier in 1998 and was seeking an equity partner to help him redevelop the resort and its 36 acres for several years.

    However, he was considered the savior of the New Frontier when he acquired the casino from the Elardi family.

    The property had been the site of the nation's longest ongoing work stoppage when more than 550 employees, backed by the Culinary Workers Union, walked off the job in September 1991.

    The workers spent 2,325 days on the picket line, going back to their jobs at 12:01 a.m., Feb. 1, 1998, when Ruffin took possession of the casino.

    The New Frontier was imploded to make way for a planned $5.7 billion mixed-use development modeled after the Plaza Hotel in New York, which Elad Group owns.

    However, the collapsing credit markets have shelved the project.

    Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz @reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.

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    Carmen Mendoza wrote on June 26, 2009 09:23 PM: Phil Ruffin is also the uncle of actor/model Sean Kyle Ruffin, who resides in Las Vegas.


    Jeremy wrote on December 22, 2008 05:06 PM: I'm in Mississippi and I'm wondering could Gold Strike-Tunica and
    Beau Rivage-Biloxi be next?


    JJ wrote on December 17, 2008 09:47 PM: He does now.


    ruffinit wrote on December 17, 2008 10:12 AM: Ruffin does not know that the mgmt team he is inheriting are a bunch of incomptent dumfuqs... Tom and Jay are fkn uninspired pseudo leaders who are responsible for the demise of that property.


    Lee Staples wrote on December 17, 2008 05:58 AM: I guess MGM sold it to have enough funds to finish City Center?


    David Amodt wrote on December 16, 2008 01:00 AM: bring back the pirate show and kill the adult theme. the place worked as a pirate hotel not as an adult themed pirate hotel. arghhh


    Tom wrote on December 16, 2008 12:31 AM: Circus Circus is indeed a dump, but it is an extremely
    profitable dump. It's hurting right now because the
    downscale family market is hurting in this recession,
    but a year or so ago it was rumored to be hauling in
    about $80 million a year in profits for MGM. They
    had plans to substantially upgrade the property,
    but who knows what will happen now.

    All MGM cares about at this point is City Center.


    Bob Dowd wrote on December 15, 2008 10:58 PM: Way to go Howard...Sharp reporting.

    --Bob Dowd, Modesto, CA


    Paco. wrote on December 15, 2008 09:44 PM: It is a steal compared to how much money people a year and a half ago for the Stratosphere and 3 other properties. I think that they would sell the Mirage before they sell Circus Circus (CC). You would get almost no capital for CC and they lose their development land for the future. * My guess is that Phil Ruffin will add some executive gaming at TI to cater to the guests of Trump Tower (which he has an interest in). Right now they have a lot of rich guests who gamble anywhere.


    missthe90s wrote on December 15, 2008 07:09 PM: hahah I heard that the pho in the buffet is really good! I never tried it but my buddy loves it.

    I do miss the old (90s) vegas. I liked Mandalay Bay casinos before the MGM buyout. RA, Se7en, Baby's, Rain, ICE nightclubs were great. You use to be able to be able to walk into any of those clubs around midnight without greasing the security monkeys. Walking by the Boardwalk was cheesey fun with the theme shops and that fortune teller arcade machine. The cheap early morning breakfast at Barbary Coast after a night was a steal. The only slots I ever liked was the dollar Winning Streak at Mandalay and MGM took those out. Those machinese actually paid out. MGM ran RA into closure but kept that hole Studio 54 open. What I liked was all the different theme resorts. You use to go from one resort to another to see different attractions. Now it's all cookie cutter. I just rent a car when I come into town and drive from one parkade to another. I think the biggest mistake to vegas was to de-theme it. I like Bellagio much better than the Wynn setup.


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