LAS VEGAS -- Las Vegas Entertainment Network said Friday it has agreed to buy the shuttered El Rancho Hotel & Casino for an undisclosed price and turn it into a country-music theme resort.
The El Rancho, one of Las Vegas' original casinos, has been closed for several years.
But LVEN -- a startup that has been active in acquiring and developing gaming properties -- said it plans to remodel and reopen the 22-acre site as 'Country Land USA Hotel & Casino.'
If Beverly Hills, Calif.-based LVEN closes its deal with current El Rancho owner Ed Torres, the casino will become the suitor's third Las Vegas property.
LVEN, which went public in February 1992, has signed a deal to buy the 800-room Maxim Hotel from Jack Anderson for an undisclosed price, and has also jointed a joint venture to construct the soon-to-open Lake Tropicana vacation-ownership project.
LVEN also plans to open a riverboat casino in Tunica, Miss., later this year.
As for the El Rancho project, LVEN development chief Byron Lasky said his company will draw on its experience creating Country Music Television -- a satellite-delivered video-programming service -- to develop Country Land USA.
LVEN added it might devote some part of the property to a vacation- ownership project similar to the Lake Tropicana development.
As for financing, LVEN said it has signed a letter of intent for firm commitment from an unidentified Wall Street underwriter to participate in an $85 million equity financing.
The El Rancho Hotel & Casino opened in 1942 as one of Las Vegas' first gaming halls. In its heyday, the site attracted such major stars Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Nat King Cole, Sophie Tucker, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Gleason and Milton Berle.
However, fire destroyed the original hotel in 1960, although developers rebuilt El Rancho in 1982 about 300 yards from its previous site.
The existing development includes a 90,000-square-foot casino, showroom, keno lounge and bingo parlor, four restaurants, entertainment lounges, meeting and banquet rooms and a 52-lane bowling center.
Las Vegas has been enjoying a boom in recent years involving its casino properties, with an estimated $2 billion earmarked for new projects.
However, developers have been shifting money to projects meant to draw families -- such as the $1 billion MGM Grand hotel-theme park project.
When the MGM Grand opens Dec. 18, it will become the world's largest hotel and casino, with 5,005 rooms and a 171,500-square-foot gaming hall. The site's 'Wizard of Oz' theme park will also feature 12 major attractions and eight themed streets.
'Family entertainment is a bigger business than ever, and it's a trend that we have seen in our Las Vegas developments,' Lasky said. 'The acquisition of the El Rancho Hotel and Casino will allow us to write a new chapter in the history of this Las Vegas landmark.'
Circus Circus Enterprises also has two new Las Vegas properties under development -- the $75 million Grand Slam Canyon amusement park set to open this month, and the $325 million Egyptian-themed Luxor hotel-casino project, due to open in October with hundreds of rooms and a 30-story pyramid.
Circus Circus blazed the trail toward family-type casinos in 1990, sinking nearly $300 million into the 4,000-room Excalibur hotel-casino.
Steve Wynn's Mirage Resorts has also been building a $430 million Treasure Island casino due to open next year.
