Clooney leaving Las Vegas
Lili2
By Natalie Finn
Wed Jun 7, 3:22 AM ET
For now, only in the movies will George Clooney be the toast of Las
Vegas.
The Syriana star and his business associates have scrapped plans to
build a $3 billion "vintage Vegas" resort complex near the Las Vegas
Strip. They cited rising construction costs and slow residential sales
as some of the reasons why they weren't going ahead with the
hotel-casino-condo idea.
Real estate developer Related Las Vegas, Centra Properties and Rande
Gerber-- Cindy Crawford's hubby and Clooney's business
partner--announced Monday that they are selling the land they planned
to build on to another development company for $202 million. Related
bought the 25-acre site for about $90 million last year.
"I'll donate my profits from the sale to the African Debt Relief
Project," Clooney, who has become celebrity advocate number-one with
regard to the human rights crisis in Darfur, Sudan, said in a
statement. "And I guess I'll find someplace else to gamble."
The 45-year-old Oscar winner got on board with the venture in August,
coining the development Las Ramblas and touting it as a Rat Pack-style
retreat for the cocktail and tuxedo set. He talked about bringing
Brad Pitt along for the real estate ride, but that partnership never
panned out.
After costs started inching upward, Related considered a redesign, but
adding more hotel rooms would have necessitated a larger casino.
"For us, it became more about gaming than the residential community we
were trying to build," Related Las Vegas President Marty Burger told
the Associated Press. "We're the largest developer of residential
property in the country, and we saw ourselves getting away from what we
do best."
While he may not get to be the next Donald Trump, at least Clooney has
a few other claims to fame to fall back on. For instance, the
45-year-old Oscar winner was named the number-one dream celebrity date
a few days ago in the latest Lifetime Television Pulse Poll. He blew
the competition out of the water, scoring 39 percent of the vote.
The Good Night, and Good Luck director has also been chosen to receive
the 21st American Cinematheque Award, which honors writers, directors
and actors who are committed to making a contribution to the motion
picture industry, on Oct. 13.
And Clooney will still get a dose of Vegas glamour this summer when he
reprises his role of dashing thief Danny Ocean for Ocean's Thirteen,
which finds the original Eleven--plus a few more--back in Sin City for
their next big score. Cameras are set to roll July 21.