Famous Rio Will Be Renovated, Landlord Announces Plans

Eric Birnbaum, the landlord of the famous Rio, decided to completely renovate the off-Strip resort. Birnbaum also wants to take over all of the daily operations in the casino.

There is more when it comes to the changes famous casinos face: a baseball stadium may be opened right next to the casino.

Dreamscape Companies, a company owned by Birnbaum, will use the capital of $850 million to launch a real estate investment trust. That trust will be the owner of the casino, as well as the hospitality and entertainment assets. Its first duty will be to create an entity that will operate all the required businesses. 

The remaining funds will be used for renovations that will be conducted in Rio. 

Birnbaum bought Rio in 2019 from Caesars Entertainment. The property cost $516.3 million. However, Caesars never left Rio since Birnbaum leased the casino back to them, and currently, Caesars is paying $45 million per year. However, Dreamscape will take over control this year. 

Efforts to save Rio:

These events occurred after Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics took into consideration the building of a ballpark on some casinos’ properties, Rio included. 

The 88.5 acres property Rio is built on is situated on Flamingo Road, only a mile away from the Strip. 

Besides Rio’s property, Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics also considers the Tropicana Las Vegas on the Strip, as well as festival grounds that are located between Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue. 

Currently, Rio possesses 2.520 rooms, as well as casino space that is placed across more than 117.000 square feet. 

The plans to renovate the property aren’t new. Birnbaum talked about that back in 2021 when he claimed that the resort needed to be renovated from floor to ceiling. Rio has great potential, so the company hopes the place will become attractive to tourists and locals once again after the renovations are completed.

The details about renovation, such as money, start date, etc., weren’t announced yet. We know that the two-tower structure will be renovated, and the premier resort and casino experience will be upgraded with modern features. Everything will be about customers, so the offerings will be fantastic, and hospitality will be on the highest levels. 

The casino will be opened during renovations.

The casino owners create the affiliated real estate businesses:

When it comes to the affiliated real estate business, it’s a pretty common thing among casino owners. It all began back in 2013 when the former Penn National Gaming decided to separate its Gaming and Leisure Properties from other businesses. A similar thing was done by MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, which opened Vici Properties, which saved the company from bankruptcy.

A similar is expected from Dreamscape, whose Dreamscape Entertainment Properties Inc. will be separated from Dreamscape Entertainment Integrated Resorts Inc. These are planned to be two independent platforms with different purposes.