Huff, Sillerman Buy More of Strip Landowner FXRE

LAS VEGAS- FX Real Estate and Entertainment Inc. chairman Robert F.X. Sillerman, the Huff Alternative Fund and the Huff Alternative Parallel Fund this month acquired 4.97 million shares of stock in the company at $10 per share. The New York-based company’s main asset is 17.7 acres on the Las Vegas Strip located across from MGM Mirage’s Project Citycenter, a $7.4-billion development that is under construction and scheduled to open in late 2009.

The purchases are related to the company’s rights offering, which ended in April. All told, Sillerman and Huff have acquired in recent weeks 5.3 million shares and 3.8 million shares, respectively. The purchases represent approximately 18% of the company’s 49.66 million outstanding shares. Including previously acquired stock, Sillerman now owns 13.78 million shares (27.7%) of the company and Huff and its affiliates now own 6.61 million shares (13.3%) of the company.

FXRE’s Las Vegas property at Harmon Avenue and the Las Vegas Strip is known as the Park Central site. The site is currently occupied by a motel and several commercial and retail tenants. FXRE took full ownership of the site in July, paying Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. $180 million for the 50% interest in the property it did not already own. In a March SEC filing, FXRE detailed a $3-billion redevelopment plan for the site that includes 3,047 hotel rooms, a 93,000-sf casino and 94,000 sf of retail.