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WWF Sells Old Debbie Reynolds Hotel

By Richard N. Velotta

World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. said today it sold the 192-room Convention Center Drive Hotel, formerly the Debbie Reynolds hotel, to a Chicago real estate broker that intends to refurbish the property.

The WWF, which bought the property in a bankruptcy sale in August 1998, announced the sale to Convention Center Drive Hotel LLC, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Mark IV Realty, for $11.2 million.

John Marks, chief executive officer of Mark IV and managing partner of Convention Center Drive Hotel LLC, said his company specializes in acquiring and rehabilitating troubled properties.

"We intend to remodel, redesign and readdress the market," Marks said. "We plan something new and exciting. We expect to reopen the casino and the restaurants and add some new amenities."

The Debbie Reynolds hotel-casino on Aug. 5, 1998, the day the WWF bought it.

He said the company is in negotiations with the 1,100 owners of timeshare units that occupy the top three floors of the 12-story building to allow them to remain.

Meanwhile, the WWF, which had plans turn the hotel into a wrestling-themed property with possible promotional tie-ins to the company's new XFL professional football league, scheduled to begin play in February, said its future plans in Las Vegas are uncertain.

Thomas Gibbons, vice president of investor relations for the Stamford, Conn.-based WWF, said the company still believes Las Vegas and the WWF are a good match and the company still plans to explore opportunities.

"We still think Vegas makes sense to us due to the form of entertainment we offer our fans," Gibbons said. "It's still a perfect fit."

But what didn't fit was the size the old Debbie Reynolds hotel offered the company. When the WWF announced in August 1999 that it planned to sell the property after investing $1.5 million in improvements, officials said the facility was too small for its plans.

Longtime casino broker David Atwell of Resort Properties of America negotiated the WWF's acquisition of the Debbie Reynolds for $10.8 million in 1998.

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