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Columbia-Sussex Seeks New Theme, Name for Caesars Tahoe

Caesars Tahoe's new owners are planning to rename and retheme the South Lake Tahoe hotel-casino before the end of the year, the head of Columbia Sussex Corp. said Friday after Nevada regulators approved the $45 million sale to the Kentucky-based company.

Despite a challenging market that has seen gaming win decrease almost 4 percent over the past 10 months because of competition from Northern California Indian casinos, Columbia Sussex President William Yung said South Lake Tahoe has potential.

Yung, whose company also operates the Horizon Casino across from Caesars Tahoe, said he contracted with Schadler Kramer Group of Las Vegas to develop a new theme for the 440-room hotel casino. Yung wants a theme that will attract the audience of 20- to 40-year-olds traveling to picturesque Lake Tahoe for reasons other than gambling, such as skiing in the winter and other outdoor activities in the summer.

Yung said the Caesars Tahoe property would compete for a different audience than the Horizon.

"About 80 percent of the people who come to Lake Tahoe don't come to gamble," said Yung, whose company also operates The Westin in Las Vegas and the River Palms Casino in Laughlin. "We think this property is a great acquisition for our company. We're not going to go after the high-roller market. We want to redevelop Caesars Tahoe to appeal to a younger audience."

Columbia Sussex has use of the Caesars name for the next six months. However, Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said Caesars Entertainment, which is being bought by Harrah's, didn't do much to improve the casino the past few years.

"It's not been kept up, and I think this transaction will help the South Lake Tahoe market," Neilander said.

Yung said there would probably be some reduction of the property's 1,052-person workforce because many functions are handled in Columbia Sussex's corporate offices.

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