Sahara casino to be sold

AP

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LAS VEGAS (AP) – Owners of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, a hangout of Hollywood’s 1960s "Rat Pack" and the setting of the original "Ocean’s Eleven" film, have agreed to sell the aging property to an investor group.

Officials from Los Angeles–based SBE Entertainment Group LLC and San Mateo, California–based Stockbridge Real Estate Funds said they’ve entered into a contract to purchase the Moroccan–themed casino and hotel from Gordon Gaming Corp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"The Sahara is one of the last remaining original properties on the Las Vegas Strip, and we are thrilled with the possibilities that it presents," SBE Entertainment CEO Sam Nazarian said in a statement late Friday.

The sale includes a 17.5–acre (7.1–hectare) parcel on the north end of the Strip and the hotel–casino with 1,720 rooms. The Sahara is one of the oldest properties on the Strip. It lost its high–end clientele as upscale development on the Strip moved south.

Nazarian, who also operates a restaurant group, a nightclub operation, a hotel group, a real estate division and a Hollywood production company, did not comment on specific plans for the property.

SBE plans to manage the hotel and its food and beverage operations. The Navegante Group, owned by Nevada gaming executive Larry Woolf, will operate the casino under a lease arrangement.

Gordon Gaming has managed the Sahara since casino pioneer William Bennett bought the property in 1995 for $193 million. Bennett spent more than $100 million upgrading the resort before his death in 2003.

The "Rat Pack" was an informal group of entertainers popular in the 1960s, such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin.