Contractor files lawsuit against Alon landowners
THE Alon casino project is stuck on the drawing board — its main backer bailed several months ago, and the land is up for sale.
Now, a contractor is taking the developers to court in a dispute that seems poised to heat up.
YWS Design & Architecture sued the project’s landowners in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas last month, in what appears to be the first lawsuit over the never-built hotel on the north Strip.
The firm alleged, among other things, copyright infringement, deceptive trade practices and breach of contract.
Australian billionaire James Packer’s company, Crown Resorts, teamed with Los Angeles investment giant Oaktree Capital Management and former Wynn Las Vegas President Andrew Pascal on the 34.6-acre project.
YWS did not sue those companies by name, or any executives individually, in the May 18 complaint, instead targeting various holding companies.
YWS chief executive Tom Wucherer and his firm’s lawyers at Greenberg Traurig did not respond to requests for comment.
Pascal, Alon’s CEO, said in a statement Friday that the allegations are “baseless” and that YWS “grossly over-billed.”
He added that his group is filing “our own counterclaims” and has “honored its obligations” to all of its partners and vendors.
The Elardi family, who owns part of the Alon site and leased it to the developers, could not be reached for comment. The family’s Tishmar holding company was named as a defendant.
Alon would have filled the long-empty former site of the New Frontier. Israeli investors imploded that hotel a decade ago to clear space for a luxury resort called Plaza Las Vegas but never built it.
Packer’s group acquired the property through foreclosure in 2014 and hired Wucherer’s firm in 2015. But the developers began to fall behind on their payments to YWS in February 2016, the lawsuit claims.
The developers temporarily suspended design work in mid2016. Two months later, they terminated the contract with YWS and “demanded payment” of nearly $500,000 from the firm, the suit alleges.
YWS filed a $3.4 million lien against the property last September, and the developers said they wanted it released so the two sides could enter mediation. The lien was lifted, and they met with a mediator in November.
But they didn’t resolve the dispute,
SEGALL
Inside the Amber Unicorn bookstore that is now one of the shopping center’s largest retail tenants, owner Myrna Donato said she plans to keep her store right where it is.
She said she hasn’t seen a slowdown in foot traffic yet. After nine years in this shopping center and 35 years in the business, she has amassed a following.
“I can’t imagine moving,” Donato said. “I’m trying not to think about it.”
Calls to shopping center landlord
Real Estate Asset Management were not returned.
In January, RAM principal Jeff Susa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize his debt.
The affiliate company RAM uses to run the former Trader Joe’s shopping center filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in 2014 and turned in its latest monthly report Friday, the day the new Trader Joe’s opened for business.
Contact Wade Tyler Millward at wmillward@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-4602. Follow @ wademillward on Twitter.