The developers of the Fontainebleau casino and hotel development in Las Vegas believe Deutsche Bank is out to get them. From Zero Hedge:
In a stunner of a development, Las Vegas casino operator Fontainebleau has amended its ongoing lawsuit against a set of banks, and has alleged that Deutsche Bank is now "seeking to destroy the Fontainebleau in order to minimize competition" with the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino, which was acquired by Deutsche Bank in a foreclosure auction in September 2008 for $1 billion, after the casino had defaulted on a $760 million loan. Allegedly, DB is doing this by pulling Fontainebleau's revolver, making it impossible for the development-stage casino to survive…
As both the Fontainebleau and DB's Cosmopolitan developments are in their final stages of development, their "successful" opening would result in yet another flood of hotel rooms in the already oversupplied Las Vegas market. The Fontainebleau casino would provide 3,800 brand new rooms and condo units, while the Cosmopolitan would supply yet another 3,000 rooms and condos.
How plausible is this argument? This plan would require monumental stupidity at Deutsche Bank. Shutting down the Fontainebleau development would ultimately lead to a new owner who would acquire the development at a much lower basis than the current owner. This would allow the new owner to substantially undercut the Cosmopolitan, pulling that project down too. I’ve discussed this downward spiral effect in more detail in my post CRE Loans and the Death Spiral of Doom.
If you view an income property submarket as an ecosystem, the whole system does best when all the competing properties have similar cost structures. When a predator property with a much lower cost basis enters the system (as a result of a greatly discounted purchase out of a foreclosure or note purchase, for example) it can offer much lower rents, which in turn can destabilize other properties. Eventually a new equilibrium is established, but at a much lower level than before the system was destabilized.
If Deutsche Bank is really trying to shut down Fontainebleau to benefit Cosmopolitan, it’s shooting itself in the foot.
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