Iconic Las Vegas Strip resort casino put up for sale

It’s very rare that a Las Vegas Strip resort casino gets sold, but one of the Strip’s most famous destinations now has a “for sale” sign.

By Daniel Kline

TheStreet

The Las Vegas Strip only has 4.2 miles of land. You can build higher, but you can’t create more land so every property that might house a viable business goes for incredibly high prices.

That’s why many iconic Las Vegas Strip destination the kitschy Hawaiian Marketplace have been sold in recent years. That site was simply too valuable remain being used for a popular, but out-of-date idea.

It was sold and the Hawaiian Marketplace has been demolished to be replaced by a modern retail center.

The high value of land on the Strip also explains why Casino Royale, a relatively small property topped by a Best Western in the middle of many Caesars Entertainment CZR resorts will soon be demolished to make way for a mega-resort.

It’s challenging to build on the Las Vegas Strip and new resorts can take years (or even decades in certain cases) but outdated properties almost always get replaced.

Earlier this year, the second-oldest Strip resort casino, The Tropicana, was demolished to make way for a new stadium for the Oakland A’s. The oldest property on the Strip, Caesars Flamingo, was actually up for sale last year, but the company did not get the offer it wanted and kept the property.

Now, another aging Las Vegas Strip resort casino appears to be on the chopping block.

Circus Circus has a long history

Circus Circus seems like a relic from a Las Vegas that never was. The resort casino eschews the “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” ethos to instead be welcoming to families.

That’s a strategy the city tried briefly, before going back to its adults mostly marketing. Circus Circus has circus acts, amusement park rides, and boardwalk-style games.

The Adventuredome is the heart of the north-Strip property offerings all of those activities. Disney World it isn’t, but it does have rides themed to Scooby Doo, Angry Birds, and other popular intellectual property.

Circus Circus welcomes families in a market that generally has been about leaving the kids at home. It’s based on the theory that a resort casino can offer adults-only fun while also having activities for the whole family.

That seemed like. good idea, but history has suggested that it’s not. You can book rooms this summer at the resort’s main tower starting at $25.

It’s not unheard of to get cheap Las Vegas rooms during the heat of the summer, but a family resort should be having a busier season when kids are out of school.

Circus Circus is up for sale

Billionaire Phil Ruffin bought Circus Circus for $825 million in 2019. At the time he seemed excited about the deal.

“Circus Circus has anchored the north end of the Las Vegas Strip for over 50 years, and I am excited to add it to my casino portfolio,” he said in the press release about the sale.

The northern part of the Las Vegas Strip has never been as popular as the central and southern parts of the Strip dominated by Caesars and MGM Resorts International.

Recent efforts to revitalize the north Strip with the launch of Resorts World Las Vegas and Fontainebleau have met with tepid results. Still, Circus Circus sits on 102-acres of land, a site large enough to house a transformative property.

Rumors have persisted that Walt Disney was eyeing the property, but the Mouse House has denied any interest.

Ruffin claims the property is worth $5 billion and he plans to use the proceeds of the sale to buy another Las Vegas Strip resort casino.

No independent sources have validated Ruffin’s hoped-for valuation. That price would dwarf the roughly $1 billion MGM Resorts International got for The Mirage, but that sale only included operating rights for the property not the underlying land.