Gary Loveman: Fontainebleau will likely become Carl Icahn’s ‘scrap metal liquidation effort’

The hulking shell of Fontainebleau sits dark on the Strip. Construction was halted on the resort in summer 2009 after lenders pulled $800 million in financing.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas: Nov. 3

A view of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas project on the Las Vegas Strip Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2011. In 2009, Fontainebleau Las Vegas filed for bankruptcy after banks halted funding for what had been envisioned as a $2.9 billion, 3,815-room resort. Launch slideshow »

A few years back, casino giant Caesars Entertainment Corp., or at least its investors, were rumored to be looking at buying the stalled and unfinished Fontainebleau casino-resort project on the Las Vegas Strip.

That didn't happen, and billionaire investor Carl Icahn eventually bought the project out of bankruptcy. Though it is 70-percent completed, he hasn't announced plans for it.

This week, Caesars CEO Gary Loveman suggested the casino-resort might not have a bright future.

The $2.9 billion Fontainebleau was financed during the easy-money boom years but was never completed, in part, because of the cratering of the economy during the recession, Loveman told analysts Tuesday during a company presentation for investors coinciding with G2E. Construction halted on the 3,815-room casino-resort and it filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

"Perhaps one of the poster children for this is the still-unfinished Fontainebleau here in Las Vegas, which was perhaps not a very well conceived project from the very beginning and is likely someday to find its future as a scrap metal liquidation effort for Carl Icahn," Loveman said.

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