{"id":12760,"date":"2015-11-17T21:31:23","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T05:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/?p=12760"},"modified":"2020-12-03T02:28:03","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T10:28:03","slug":"lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucky Dragon Seeks Public Bailout After Awkward Shortfall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Clear out your sad trombone&#8217;s spit valve, the Lucky Dragon hotel-casino project is running out of cash.<\/p>\n<p>A few days ago, we popped by to check out the latest developments at Lucky Dragon, but, oh, so much has happened since then.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12761\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12761\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12761 size-full\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_1.jpg\" alt=\"Lucky Dragon\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_1-624x416.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12761\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Exciting, right? Buzz, meet kill. Keep reading.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When we first heard about Lucky Dragon, a new Asian-themed, boutique hotel near the north end of The Strip, lots of red flags went up.<\/p>\n<p>The project would rely heavily on EB-5 financing, where foreign investors contribute capital (at least $500,000) to American businesses and in return can earn a U.S. visa.<\/p>\n<p>Lucky Dragon raised $60 million this way, enough to get the project off the ground, and it&#8217;s made impressive\u00a0progress. Enough progress, in fact (the hotel was topped off in Sep. 2015), to make this blog prematurely proclaim the Lucky Dragon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/holy-crap-lucky-dragon-hotel-casino-las-vegas-could-actually-be-a-thing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">could actually be a thing<\/a>.\u00a0 This blog is not unfamiliar with prematurity, trust us.<\/p>\n<p>Update: What in the hell were we thinking?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12762\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12762\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12762 size-full\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_6.jpg\" alt=\"Lucky Dragon hotel-casino\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_6.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_6-624x416.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12762\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interesting fact: In some Asian cultures, the number four is considered bad luck. We&#8217;re thinking this must also apply to &#8220;foresight&#8221; and &#8220;forethought.&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While some other Las Vegas projects have done well with EB-5 financing, it appears Lucky Dragon isn&#8217;t one of those.<\/p>\n<p>Lucky Dragon has now come hat-in-hand to the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency for a public subsidy, something called <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tax_increment_financing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tax increment financing<\/a>, or TIF. Presumably, getting the $25 million public subsidy would then trigger an additional $30 in funds from a bank, First Foundation Bank. <a href=\"http:\/\/vegas.eater.com\/2015\/11\/17\/9749164\/las-vegas-lucky-dragon-hotel-casino-needs-25-million-to-make-august-2016-debut\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12763\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12763\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12763 size-full\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_9.jpg\" alt=\"Lucky Dragon casino\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_9.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_9-624x416.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12763\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stuff is happening at Lucky Dragon. The question is who&#8217;s paying for the rest of the stuff?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What it all comes down to is Lucky Dragon made a financial leap of faith and began building without all the needed financing in place.<\/p>\n<p>This move has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/skyvue-removes-scaffolding-make-way-worlds-first-unicorn-sanctuary-petting-zoo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SkyVue observation wheel<\/a>\u00a0written all over it. In case you missed it, that particular pie-in-the-sky project didn&#8217;t end well.<\/p>\n<p>Lucky Dragon reps claim\u00a0if funds aren&#8217;t received, &#8220;they&#8217;ll be forced to cease all development activity,&#8221; so we&#8217;d place a hefty wager there are any number of Asian investors scrambling to translate the letters &#8220;WTF&#8221; right about now.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12764\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12764\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12764 size-full\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_5.jpg\" alt=\"Lucky Dragon casino Vegas\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_5.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_5-624x416.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12764\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lucky Dragon, please become a reality so we can skip ahead to the stories about your struggling due to the challenging location, thanks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Please, Lucky Dragon, get your act together. Don&#8217;t punish us for optimism. Open in 2016, with your casino and your restaurants and your pool and your lounges and your spa, even though we&#8217;ll never go to the spa, but that&#8217;s not the point.<\/p>\n<p>Open in 2016, Lucky Dragon, and we&#8217;ll even forgive your shady\u00a0&#8220;Give us our tax increment financing or we&#8217;re taking our casino and going home!&#8221; tactics.<\/p>\n<p>Because the last thing the north end of the Las Strip needs is a partially-completed, abandoned shell of a hotel. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/failed-fontainebleau-las-vegas-project-partially-redeemed-new-billboard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fountainbleu Las Vegas<\/a>\u00a0already called dibs on that.<\/p>\n<p>Update (11\/18\/15): The Las Vegas City Council <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reviewjournal.com\/business\/casinos-gaming\/city-rejects-subsidies-lucky-dragon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has rejected<\/a> Lucky Dragon&#8217;s subsidy request. Hey, it can&#8217;t hurt to ask.<\/p>\n<p>[flagallery gid=160]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clear out your sad trombone&#8217;s spit valve, the Lucky Dragon hotel-casino project is running out of cash. A few days ago, we popped by to check out the latest developments at Lucky Dragon, but, oh, so much has happened since then. When we first heard about Lucky Dragon, a new Asian-themed, boutique hotel near the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,24,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vegas","category-las-vegas-casinos","category-lasvegashotels"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lucky Dragon Looks for Public Bailout After Awkward Shortfall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a promising start, it appears the under-construction Lucky Dragon hotel-casino is in need of a public financial bail-out. We should have known.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lucky Dragon Looks for Public Bailout After Awkward Shortfall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After a promising start, it appears the under-construction Lucky Dragon hotel-casino is in need of a public financial bail-out. We should have known.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vital Vegas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VitalLasVegas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-18T05:31:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-03T10:28:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Roeben\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@vitalvegas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@vitalvegas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Roeben\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lucky Dragon Looks for Public Bailout After Awkward Shortfall","description":"After a promising start, it appears the under-construction Lucky Dragon hotel-casino is in need of a public financial bail-out. We should have known.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lucky Dragon Looks for Public Bailout After Awkward Shortfall","og_description":"After a promising start, it appears the under-construction Lucky Dragon hotel-casino is in need of a public financial bail-out. We should have known.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/","og_site_name":"Vital Vegas","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VitalLasVegas","article_published_time":"2015-11-18T05:31:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-03T10:28:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Scott Roeben","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@vitalvegas","twitter_site":"@vitalvegas","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scott Roeben","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/"},"author":{"name":"Scott Roeben","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#\/schema\/person\/c4d18a46e6ee47e7841b986c288f333e"},"headline":"Lucky Dragon Seeks Public Bailout After Awkward Shortfall","datePublished":"2015-11-18T05:31:23+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-03T10:28:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/"},"wordCount":541,"commentCount":12,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_1.jpg","articleSection":["Las Vegas","Las Vegas Casinos","Las Vegas Hotels"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/","name":"Lucky Dragon Looks for Public Bailout After Awkward Shortfall","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_1.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-18T05:31:23+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-03T10:28:03+00:00","description":"After a promising start, it appears the under-construction Lucky Dragon hotel-casino is in need of a public financial bail-out. We should have known.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/lucky_dragon_casino_111315_1.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"caption":"Exciting, right? Buzz, meet kill. Keep reading."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/lucky-dragon-seeks-public-bailout-after-awkward-shortfall\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Las Vegas","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/vegas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Lucky Dragon Seeks Public Bailout After Awkward Shortfall"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/","name":"Vital Vegas","description":"Essential Las Vegas News, Tips, Deals and WTF.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#organization","name":"Vital Vegas","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/vital_vegas_logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/vital_vegas_logo.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"caption":"Vital Vegas"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VitalLasVegas","https:\/\/x.com\/vitalvegas"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#\/schema\/person\/c4d18a46e6ee47e7841b986c288f333e","name":"Scott Roeben","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/author-logo-lg-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/author-logo-lg-96x96.png","caption":"Scott Roeben"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}