Another old resort on the north end of the Strip might have finally found some investors who will give it a billion dollar makeover, reports the Sun. A group of real estate investors including Barry Sternlicht, the former chief executive of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Las Vegas real estate developer Brett Torino and Chicago real estate executive and casino investor Neil Bluhm have agreed to buy Riviera CEO Bill Westerman’s stake in the company.

Half of his 18 percent has been sold already and the group will buy the rest as soon as it is licensed. (To hold more 10 percent, a person or group has to be licensed by the Gaming Control Board.) The paper reports that Westerman has turned down previous offers he thought were too flimsy or relied on debt financing that could not be sustained.

The other serious obstacle is that the company’s debt requires immediate repayment, so any planned takeover would need to refinance the bonds or pay them off. The payoff also requires a 1 percent premium so there would be roughly $217 million to meet that debt.

And, as Liz Benston says, the time is probably right with just about every other big gamer getting ready for a luxury makeover or planning to expand its luxury end products.