The owner of the Railroad Pass hotel-casino between Henderson and Boulder City who recently sold off The Pass casino in Henderson’s Historic Water Street District will take over the locals Longhorn and Bighorn properties next month.
Joseph DeSimone Jr., owner, officer and director of Henderson-based DeSimone Gaming Inc., won a recommendation of approval for the purchase of the Longhorn on Boulder Highway in Henderson and the Bighorn on Lake Mead Boulevard in North Las Vegas from the Nevada Gaming Control Board Wednesday.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed. Final approval of both transactions is scheduled June 25 before the Nevada Gaming Commission. DeSimone hopes to begin running the two properties July 1.
DeSimone plans to keep the properties’ manager, Randy Miller, and he doesn’t anticipate any operational changes when the deal closes.
DeSimone said Bighorn has about 68 employees, six of them part time, while the Longhorn has 92 employees, 56 of them part time.
“The Longhorn Casino has a 150-room hotel next to it, which is currently unbranded and arguably a little tired,” DeSimone told Control Board members.
“One of our immediate objectives is to improve the hotel, inside and out, allow it to be profitable, and contribute to the business at the Longhorn Casino,” he said. “We’re currently negotiating with two hotel groups with which I already have relationships, IHG and Wyndham, and we’re ready to make a decision with respect to the approval.”
The Bighorn, he said, would benefit by having more slot machines in the casino, but that would necessitate an expansion of the building “which we have not studied yet.
“We’re able per our equity agreements to raise the capital to do so,” he said. “We just have not made that decision yet.”
Earlier in the week, DeSimone announced the sale of The Pass, formerly known as the Eldorado, in Henderson’s Historic Water Street District to ECL Water Street, the operator of the nearby Emerald Island and Rainbow Club casinos.
“From the day we acquired The Pass, our goal was to honor Henderson’s history while delivering an exceptional experience for our guests,” DeSimone said in a release announcing the deal with ECL Water Street. “ECL Gaming has demonstrated a strong commitment to our community, and I am confident they will continue to invest in the success of The Pass for years to come.”
After the sale of The Pass is completed, DeSimone Cos. will continue to own and operate the nearby Atwell Suites on Water Street.
“I believe they’re (ECL Water Street) poised better to bring more profitability and thus better experiences for both the team members and the customers than was I, being that they do have a critical mass of customers in that submarket,” DeSimone told regulators.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
