LVS to Sell PA Casino?
Las Vegas Sands might try to sell its $743 million Sands Bethlehem Casino in Pennsylvania just nine months after opening, the Easton Express-Times quoted
unidentified sources.
The company wants to focus on Asian expansions, the newspaper said.
It quoted an LVS spokesman as only saying that the company is planning new marketing programs to improve results at Sands Beth, which suffered a $2.1 million
fourth quarter operating loss.
Meanwhile, LVS is under pressure to invest another $100 million in Sands Beth to complete the hotel, shopping mall and conference center.
Bethlehem City Council will vote on a resolution asking the state Gaming Control Board to make renewal of the property’s casino license contingent on completing the
projects.
If LVS sells Sands Beth, the new owner should be required to complete the nongaming projects, City Council President Robert Donchez told the newspaper.
LVS stopped construction on them last year. The company also has scaled back casino expansion.
Instead of jumping from 3,000 slots to the authorized maximum of 5,000 within six months as planned, Sands Beth added just 250 machines last fall.