Riviera Las Vegas closed May 4th

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority purchased The Riviera.  The agency’s board members voted to spend up to $191 million to buy the 26-acre property on the north end of the Strip to make way for an expanded convention center, part of a $2.3 billion project it’s calling the Las Vegas Global Business District.

Approval of the transaction occurred simultaneously with authorization of a lease-back agreement that kept operation of the hotel-casino in the hands of Paragon Gaming, a Las Vegas company that managed the property for Connecticut-based Starwood Capital Group. Paragon was responsible for closing the property, which marked its 60th anniversary on April 20th, and turned it over to the authority for demolition