Sam Nazarian is the man with the plan, he put Hollywood’s club scene back on the map. It appears as if Nazarian is a true gambling man. He has never run a casino, and he is entering the business in a downturn that’s fleecing existing casinos and snuffing out new ones. Gambling revenues are down. Room rates are falling. Some companies have filed for bankruptcy protection and others are poised to.
He is a 32 year old real-estate entrepreneur and nightclub impresario from a wealthy Beverly Hills family. Over the past few years he’s injected new buzz into the Hollywood club scene and now intends to resurrect the forlorn Sahara Hotel & Casino with the same kind of cool.
According to Nazarian his hotel and casino will have an edge over competitors. It will serve a market that he says has been priced out of Vegas: the young party crowd that’s dropped a fortune at his Los Angeles clubs and restaurants. “There is an alienation of the high-energy, youthful crowd,” stresses Nazarian. He has already spent about $2 million in furnishings and décor for his casino project.