First off, condolences to the Bennett and Hummel families, following the untimely demise of Lynn Bennett, owner of the Sahara Hotel & Casino. Widow of former Circus Circus executive and Sahara owner Bill Bennett (the man who kept the picketers fed during the long, bitter strike at the Frontier), Mrs. Bennett leaves an extended family to grieve her passing. Among those is her brother and the present CEO of the Sahara, Al Hummel, one of the Good Guys in the casino biz. (The late Mr. Bennett was no slouch either. When the Frontier strike ended, one of the workers who'd been subsisting on the three squares a day provided by Bennett shook his benefactor's hand and told him, "Thank you, Mr. Bennett. I hope you live forever." He deserved to but didn't, alas.)
On a business-related note, I've heard that Mrs. Bennett's sad decease may accelerate the process of selling the atmospheric North Strip property, much as I'd hate to see it leave the Bennett family's hands. An expert source says the empty land across Las Vegas Boulevard could have been sold “10 times over” had the late Mrs. Bennett not wanted to offload both it and the hotel-casino together.
“They got caught up in the fervor of the market,” says the source, with Related Cos. being one of the spurned suitors (before Related shook the dust of Vegas from its heels altogether). Al Hummel has been trying to peddle the whole kit and caboodle at anywhere from $700 million to $1 billion, with the help of CB Richard Ellis but has found no takers as yet. (Rumor is the final sale price may be closer to $850 million, which would still bring close to $17 million an acre.) Our source isn’t worried, whatever happens, noting that the Sahara is profitable and, as for its management, “they’re not an anxious seller.”
Which reminds me … more information has surfaced about the phantom "Sahara Towers" project that was masterminded by convicted felon Ronald J. Goldberg from his jail cell. Longtime Business Press readers will remember the colorful tale of this shady effort to obtain control of the Sahara. I'll give you the latest news as soon as time permits.
