September 8

The owners of the Hacienda, the first hotel-casino located on U.S. 93  for travelers from Arizona see after they cross Hoover Dam, have ended negotiations to sell the property to the National Park Service.

The Hacienda's owners, all executives of the Mandalay Resort Group, began formal talks with representatives of Lake Mead National Recreation Area last month after Secretary of Interior Gale Norton green-lighted spending $20 million for the purchase and restoration of the property south of Boulder City.

But in a news release issued Tuesday, the Hacienda's owners -- Michael Ensign, Bill Richardson and David Belding -- said they decided against the sale of the hotel and casino and 34 acres surrounding it.

Belding stated today that he and his partners would continue to manage the development and that it is no longer for sale to any would be buyers. The rather surprising change in motion came from the lengthy period that it would have taken the Park Service to take possession of the 300-room hotel as well as the pending $7.9 billion merger of the Mandalay Resort Group with MGM MIRAGE.

Belding also went on to say that the timing of the Hacienda deal would have resulted in too much uncertainty for the property's 200 employees.

Belding also stated that the Hacienda partners recently learned that the Park Service would not be able to take control of the site for approximately another two years. Meanwhile, MGM MIRAGE's plan to gain control of the Mandalay Resort Group is slated to be completed sometime early next year.

Belding said Mandalay properties helped provide jobs for displaced workers when a fire severely damaged the Hacienda, at the time named Gold Strike, in June 1998. Belding said there was too much uncertainty for how displaced workers would be accommodated if the Hacienda were closed after the MGM MIRAGE-Mandalay deal is completed.

He added that there are no negotiations planned with other potential buyers.

Last month, Belding said there were other interested buyers for the property that has been owned by the Ensign family since 1953 and co-owned with the Belding and Richardson families since 1977. Belding said the owners have been approached by other developers, including one interested in building high-rise residential towers on the site.

The Park Service tried to acquire the site before the development of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 1964. After some time, the Park Service purchased  87 undeveloped acres around the property in 1973 as part of a federal court settlement, but was not able to reach an agreement on purchasing the remainder of the acreage.

The court settlement specifically prohibited the Park Service from discussing a sale unless approached by the casino owners first. Rohde said the Park Service would remain bound by the settlement agreement and would not re-approach the owners about a potential deal.

Belding said last month that the owners wanted to give the Park Service the first crack at buying the property, leading to an Interior Department review and the authorization to spend $20 million on an acquisition.

The government was looking to convert the property into either a visitor center for Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, regional offices for the Park Service or a training center. Park Service officials said if they took possession of the property that they would probably tear down the 16-story tower, long considered an eyesore by environmentalists and park managers.