According to the Lucky Dragon developers, the Lucky Dragon is worth $143 million. However, the lender begs to differ, reporting that the un-successful hotel-casino is worth less than half of that and isn’t earning nearly enough revenue to cover its operating costs—much less its loans.
Devaluing After A Series of Financial Issues
Lucky Dragon developers built the hotel-casino as the first to be built from the ground up in the Las Vegas valley since the recession. Since its inception, the Lucky Dragon has faced nothing but challenges including difficulty in attracting crowds which led to a high number of layoffs.
Additionally, they faced a building contractor that claimed the developers owed them millions of dollars for unpaid work, various foreclosure proceedings, a temporary closure of the casino and all its restaurants, and other very un-lucky happenings.
Why Did The Lucky Dragon Struggle?
Union Gaming analyst, John DeCree, said the Lucky Dragon “caters to only one customer segment” (a dominantly Chinese market) making it difficult to generate enough gambling revenue to cover all of its costs. He believed that if the Lucky Dragon had broadened its target market, perhaps it would have stood a chance of surviving.
Related: Lucky Dragon Casino Files for Bankruptcy
Because of the Dragon’s sequence of unfortunate events, its developers want to sell their disastrous project in bankruptcy court. Potential buyers have shown interest. However, significant questions remain regarding the value of the hotel-casino and how it can (if it can at all) be saved.
Still in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
In a recent phone interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lucky Dragon developer Andrew Fonfa said that there is “a lot of interest in the property at this time.” He was referring to potential buyers both domestically and internationally. Also reported by the RJ: buyers have contacted the newspaper itself to request more information about how to buy the boutique Chinese-themed property.
For now, less than two years after it opened, the Lucky Dragon remains in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy status. The company, who has been working with a Las Vegas bankruptcy attorney, chose chapter 11 to get the opportunity to restructure debt without ceasing operations.
