Landry’s eyeing purchase of Atlantic City casino

Landry’s Restaurants, which owns the downtown Las Vegas and Laughlin casinos, is reportedly trying to acquire the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, which may be taken over by a bank that holds its mortgage.
 
The Press of Atlantic City reported Houston-based Landry’s might grab the resort if it is forced into receivership.
 
U.S. Bank National Association, the trustee for the Hilton’s mortgage holder, J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp, is trying to force the Boardwalk property and two sister casinos in Mississippi into receivership. The casinos’ owners defaulted on a $960 million loan.
 
Steve Wynn opened the hotel in 1980 as the Golden Nugget. He sold the casino for $440 million in 1987, beginning a string of ownership and name changes. The property, Atlantic City’s smallest casino, became the Hilton in 1996 after an ownership switch.
 
The newspaper called the Hilton one of the worst-performing casinos, losing $6.3 million in this year’s second quarter.
 
In a statement, Landry’s said it would change the property’s name back to the Golden Nugget if the company acquires the resort.
 
In Las Vegas, Landry’s has spent more than $300 million since 2005 to renovate and expand the downtown Golden Nugget. On November, the company opened the Rush Tower, a $150 million hotel expansion that added 500 rooms to the resort.