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GlobeSt.com UPDATE: ARC Buys into $100M Motor-Sports Resort
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: November 22, 2005 06:46am

MILLVILLE, NJ-ARC Development, a company focused on developing and acquiring racetrack properties, has signed a letter of intent with New Jersey Motorsports Park LLC for the former to acquire “a major ownership position” in the latter’s Thunderbolt Raceway project here. ARC is a Zephyr Cove, NV-based subsidiary of American Racing Capital Inc.

Financial details of the agreement were not released. In the works for three years, Thunderbolt Raceway is described by its developer as a “motor-sports resort.” As reported by GlobeSt.com, the formal plan, released in mid-2004, calls for several road-racing circuits, race garages, VIP suites, commercial space, a conference center, restaurants, a hotel, trackside villas and condos. NJMP, a local partnership, has put an estimated price tag of $100 million on the project.
“As part of our strategy, we intend to fund and acquire companies and projects such as this,” says Davy Jones a principal of American Racing Capital. “The ownership stake in this racing facility is intended to increase our portfolio of motor sports-related holdings that provide access to professional race teams, event sponsorship and motor sports marketing services.”
“By partnering with ARC, we’ll be able to leverage their core competencies and industry connections to gain greater access to capital and to the resources needed to develop our property to its fullest potential,” says Lee Brahin, a principal investor in NJMP. The plan calls for the project to be developed in three phases over a five-year period, with construction expected to start next spring.

Thunderbolt Raceway will sprawl over a 708-acre tract adjacent to the Millville Airport, and a portion of the site was acquired a year ago by the City of Millville under a long-term ground lease with the Delaware River and Bay Authority. Besides the various state and local approvals required for the project, its proximity to the airport requires that the Federal Aviation Administration also sign off on it.

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Companies Target Dubai, UAE Residential Market
By Barbara Jarvie
Last updated: November 21, 2005 12:17pm

PARSIPANY, NJ-Locally based Cendant Global Services Inc. awarded exclusive master franchise rights for the Sotheby’s International Realty brand in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates to a newly formed company. The company will operate under the name Nakheel Sotheby's International Realty.

The target of the master franchisee will be to develop a system of real estate offices for residential real estate brokerage opportunities. Sotheby’s International Realty is a subsidiary of Cendant Corp. The company will market such properties as Nakheel’s man-made islands known as the Palm. Other developments include the World, consisting of 300 man-made islands.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Nakheel executive chairman, says, “As the real estate sector continues to grow in both Dubai and the Middle East…the Sotheby’s brand will be instrumental in exposing our properties to an international audience whilst providing discipline to the secondary market.”

James Wilson, CEO of Nakheel and Nakheel Sotheby's International Realty, adds that the first offices will be located in Dubai.

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GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Trump Entertainment Names Black CFO
By Sean Ryan
Last updated: November 21, 2005 12:19pm

Sean Ryan is associate editor of Real Estate New Jersey.

ATLANTIC CITY-Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. has named Dale Black the new executive vice president and chief financial officer. The previous CFO, Frank McCarthy, will now serve as executive vice president and corporate controller. For previous coverage, click here.

Black comes from Argosy Gaming Co., where he had worked 12 years, most recently as senior vice president and chief financial officer. “Dale was instrumental in the financial restructuring of Argosy over several years,” says James B. Perry, president and CEO of Trump Entertainment. Perry has also recently come from Argosy, where he was president and CEO. Donald Trump was forced to step down from his previous position as a result of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts--although Trump still retains the position of chairman of his titular company. The current Trump Entertainment Resorts is the successor company.

“He has an excellent relationship with the banking and investment communities,” Perry says of Black, “who recognize his ability to develop and implement financial strategies that have resulted in increased free cash flow, and created significant value for shareholders.”

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GM to Cut 30,000 Jobs, Close 9 Plants
By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 manufacturing jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand.

The announcement Monday by Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of the world's largest automaker, represents 5,000 more job cuts than the 25,000 that the automaker had previously indicated it planned to cut.

GM said the assembly plants that will close are in Oklahoma City, Lansing, Mich., Spring Hill, Tenn., Doraville, Ga., and Ontario, Canada.

An engine facility in Flint, Mich., will close, along with a separate powertrain facility in Ontario and metal centers in Lansing and Pittsburgh.

Wagoner said GM also will close three service and parts operations facilities. They are in Ypsilanti, Mich., and Portland, Ore., and one unidentified site. A shift also will be removed at a plant in Moraine, Ohio.

"The decisions we are announcing today were very difficult to reach because of their impact on our employees and the communities where we live and work," Wagoner told employees. "But these actions are necessary for GM to get its costs in line with our major global competitors. In short, they are an essential part of our plan to return our North American operations to profitability as soon as possible."

GM said the plan is to achieve $7 billion in cost reductions on a running rate basis by the end of 2006 - $1 billion above its previously indicated target.

GM shares rose 77 cents, or 3.2 percent, in premarket trading. Its shares traded below $21 last week at an 18-year low.

Wagoner said last month the automaker would announce plant closures by the end of this year to get its capacity in line with U.S. demand. GM plants currently run at 85 percent of their capacity, lower than North American plants run by its Asian rivals. The plant closings aren't expected to be final until GM's current contract with the United Auto Workers expires in 2007.
GM has been crippled by high labor, pension, health care and materials costs as well as by sagging demand for sport utility vehicles, its longtime cash cows, and by bloated plant capacity. Its market share has been eroded by competition from Asian automakers led by Toyota Motor Corp. GM lost nearly $4 billion in the first nine months of this year.

The automaker could be facing a strike at Delphi Corp., its biggest parts supplier, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month. GM spun off Delphi in 1999 and could be liable for billions in pension costs for Delphi retirees.

GM also is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for accounting errors.

Last week, after the automaker's shares fell to their lowest level in 18 years, Wagoner sent an e-mail to employees saying the company has a turnaround strategy in place and has no plans to file for bankruptcy.

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GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Harrah’s Finalizes Expansion Proposal
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: November 21, 2005 08:02am

ATLANTIC CITY-Pending final approvals, Harrah’s Entertainment is set to start construction of a $550-million expansion of its Harrah’s Atlantic City hotel/casino. And the final plan is more than 160 rooms larger and $90 million more expensive that an earlier proposal reported by GlobeSt.com this past June.

The project calls for a new 40-story tower with 964 guest rooms, boosting the property’s room count to the vicinity of 2,600. Also part of the plan is a new spa, several new eateries, and a new 172,000-sf retail and entertainment complex. The hotel’s existing buffet, which will be replaced by a 650-seat area, will be converted into additional gaming space, adding 400 slots and 20 tables.

The property is located in this city’s Marina District, near the Borgata, which itself is currently expanding to the tune of $525 million. Both properties are located away from this city’s boardwalk and its attractions, and part of the impetus for the expansion is to add non-gaming amenities to the site, according to Carlos Tolosa, president of Harrah’s eastern division. Besides gaming, “there hasn’t been a lot to do there.”

And as far as the added rooms, “the new tower will allow us to capture more of the tremendous unmet demand for hotel rooms in Atlantic City,” Tolosa says. Harrah’s expanded its flagship property here as recently as 2002, when it spent $200 million to add rooms and amenities. The company is also in the process of developing plans to upgrade and expand its Bally’s and Caesars properties on the boardwalk, which it acquired when it bought rival Caesar’s Entertainment earlier this year. Besides an upgrade, Bally’s will also be rebranded, and plans for both properties are expected to be released by early 2006, according to Tolosa.
As far as the Harrah’s Atlantic City expansion, the retail and entertainment center is slated for completion by the end of next year, according to Tolosa. The new hotel tower is expected to be ready by mid-2008.