Assuming Milam also made the $2.9-million payments required for April and May, he and his equity partners have made approximately $70 million of non-refundable payments to Archon Corp. -- including more than $24 million that will not be applied to the purchase price, which jumped from $450 million last year following a missed option payment.

Located immediately south of the Sahara hotel-casino, the site is one of the last large available properties on the Strip that has not recently traded. Milam tied up the property in June 2006. In May 2007, Australian billionaire James Packer invested $22.5 million to gain a 37.5% interest in the ownership entity, which had initially had plans for a multi-billion-dollar, 5,000-room casino resort on the property that would include the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,888 feet.

Later that year, those plans were shot down by the Federal Aviation Administration due to its proximity to McCarran International Airport. In December, Clark County commissioners approved the site for 1,064-foot tower, which would be the tallest building in the US, but plans have since been revised to a shorter, twin tower concept, sources familiar with the situation recently told GlobeSt.com.