Fontainebleau sues banks for $3 billion
By all accounts, Fontainebleau looked golden.
Located north on the Las Vegas Strip (below Sahara), the highly anticipated resort casino had all its funding in place with no major snafus and was expected to open on time later this year.
But now the casino with almost 4,000 rooms and 100,000 square feet of gaming space is in danger of being halted because its banks have pulled out of their agreement to lend them a previously agreed upon $800 million for remaining construction.
The lenders claim they terminated their agreement because Fontainebleau defaulted on the loan.
Fontainebleau says they didn't default, and slapped a $3 billion lawsuit (the cost of Fontainebleau) against the banks.
In this economic climate, more pressure is on banks to scrutinize loans to an industry that is currently hurting. But losing a lawsuit could prove even more detrimental.
