New-York based Blackstone to pay $1.7B for Vegas casino

Owner Deutsche Bank came up craps on Cosmopolitan, apparently losing billions in two years

Stephen Schwarzman and Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Stephen Schwarzman and Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Midtown East-based private-equity giant Blackstone Group struck a deal yesterday to buy the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas hotel and casino for $1.7 billion.

Deutsche Bank, the seller, spent $4 billion on the resort as both a lender and owner. It has reported $9.5 billion in losses from noncore assets since 2012, according to the Wall Street Journal. And the 3,000-room property likely makes up a huge chunk of that deficit. The original developer, Ian Bruce Eichner, defaulted on about $760 million in loans in 2008. Deutsche took over and opened the site two years later.

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Blackstone will likely borrow $1 billion toward the purchase. Earlier this month, the Stephen Schwarzman-led firm  renewed its lease and picked up an additional 38,846 square feet at 345 Park Avenue, as previously reported. [WSJ]Mark Maurer