When casino landlord Vici Properties made its latest billion-dollar deal in Southern Nevada, it grew its footprint in the riverside gaming town of Laughlin.
It picked up two more hotels there as part of a sale-leaseback deal with Golden Entertainment. But another Laughlin casino property owned by Golden was left out of the deal: the Colorado Belle.
Then again, if it had been included, Golden founder Blake Sartini would be paying rent on a shuttered casino, as the riverboat-themed property has been closed since the pandemic began.
In the recently closed deal, New York-based Vici bought seven casino properties from Las Vegas-based Golden — including The Strat — and then leased them to Sartini, the chairman and CEO, who took the company private and now owns the company.
His original annual rent for these properties totals $87 million.
The Sartini family still owns the Colorado Belle as part of Golden’s broader portfolio, as the deal with Vici was built only around Golden’s operating casino resorts, Sartini’s son Blake Sartini II, Golden’s vice president and chief operating officer, said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
He also said the company “eventually” plans to develop a new project on the Colorado Belle property that “capitalizes on the location’s riverfront position, on our own terms and timeline.”
Vici did not respond to a request for comment.
Paddle wheels and chimneys
Laughlin, a small, unincorporated town about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas, has a string of hotel-casinos along the Colorado River. It has long offered a cheap, low-cost getaway and attracted a mostly older crowd who largely come in for their travels.
Golden acquired the Colorado Belle in 2019 as part of a deal that included the Edgewater hotel-casino in Laughlin and the Laughlin Event Center. This followed the acquisition of the Aquarius resort in Laughlin in 2017 through a separate deal.
Aquarius, Edgewater and the outdoor concert venue are all open and operational. But the Colorado Belle has been closed since March 2020, when casinos and other businesses across the country were forced to close due to fears of the coronavirus outbreak.
With its replica paddle wheels and chimneys, the Colorado Belle was built in the 1980s. According to Golden, it had around 1,100 rooms, nearly 670 slot machines and 16 table games.
Golden says they voluntarily surrendered their gaming license for the property in 2023.
In the fall of 2025, Vici announced that they were buying a portfolio of casino properties from Golden for $1.16 billion and leasing them to Sartini, who at the same time acquired the company he heads.
Sale-leaseback and corporate purchase both closed on April 30.
As part of the deal, Vici bought the property for The Strat; the two Arizona Charlie’s properties in Las Vegas; Aquarius and Kantvatnet; Pahrump Nugget; and Lakeside Casino & RV Park in Pahrump.
“The right of first offer”
Neither Vici nor Golden mentioned the Colorado Belle in their initial press release about the transaction.
But in an investor presentation released the same day, Vici reported that it has a “first offer” on a sale-leaseback of the Colorado Belle and on financing for potential future development of the site.
Vici is the largest property owner on the Las Vegas Strip, with a portfolio that includes Caesars Palace, The Venetian, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay and several other huge hotel-casinos along the famous corridor.
Before the deal with Golden, its real estate holdings already included Harrah’s Laughlin.
Vici does not operate resorts here but collects rent from companies that do, including MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment.
Launched in 2017 as a Caesars spinoff, the real estate investment firm has greatly expanded its holdings through expensive transactions, including its $17.2 billion buyout of MGM Resorts’ real estate spinoff.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@ theplayerlounge.com or 702-383-0342.
