Chilean casino company pulls out of deal to buy Las Vegas Strip land amid rise in interest rates

CB Investment, founded by Chilean businessman Claudio Fischer, has pulled out of the $120 million deal to develop a hotel-casino on the Strip near the Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall. The sale of 10 acres at the corner of Strip and Elvis Presley Boulevard did not close on December 15.

CB Investment is controlled by Chilean businessman Claudio Fischer. He is co-founder of Sun Dreams, the largest casino resort operator in Latin America. Fischer pulled out of the deal to buy the land in Las Vegas due to the high cost of debt. The LVCVA terminated the agreement and re-listed the property. The transaction was announced in October 2021. It involved a location that formerly housed a portion of Riviera Hotel-Casino.

Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages reached 7.08% in October and November. Fischer had to take out a loan to cover part of the $120 million needed to acquire the land. The project was financially unsustainable. It was supposed to be developed into a Dreams hotel-casino with construction to begin by January 1, 2031.

The LVCVA planned to use the proceeds from the sale to finance the renovation of four exhibit halls over a two-year period. The convention center's $1 billion West Hall, a 1.4 million-square-foot expansion, opened in 2021. Hill said in an interview a renovation is being planned for the convention centre’s North Hall.