Hard Rock Hotel granted loan extension

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The Hard Rock Hotel announced Monday it has been granted an extension until 2014 on maturity dates for $1.1 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities.

New York-based hotelier Morgans Hotel Group, the property's minority owner and manager, announced the extension as the resort opened a new tower and expanded casino.

The loan, which is secured by the hotel-casino, was scheduled to mature Feb. 9 with two one-year extensions.

The loan included $620 million in construction loans that helped pay for the $750 million expansion

The 374-room HRH tower anchors new amenities which include the 25,000-square-foot Reliquary Spa, a new parking garage with a porte-cochere and 40,000 square feet of new casino space.

A new nightclub, the 14,000-square-foot Vanity, opens New Year's Eve.

The 450-room Paradise Tower, convention space and a new, expanded concert venue, The Joint, opened earlier this year. A pool expansion is scheduled to open this summer.

A second loan secured by 11 acres of unused land next to the Hard Rock Hotel was also extended to February 2014. The $50 million loan matured Aug. 9 and was in default before the new agreement.