Cosmo Crunch In Vegas

The foreclosure crisis in Nevada has reached the point where the $3 billion Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino project has been affected.

Investment lender Deutsche Bank had begun foreclosure proceedings on the 2,998-room project before the construction contractor announced January 18th it had received an interim commitment from the bank to guarantee continued payment, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Developer Bruce Eichner received a notice of default on a $760 million construction loan January 16th, according to the paper, after missing a payment. Eichner had failed to secure refinancing.

Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch are working to find new investors, the paper said. The project is being built on the Las Vegas Strip between the Bellagio and the CityCenter Project and has a December 2009 deadline.

"At this point, what’s the bank to do," finance professor Michael Sullivan told the Review-Journal. "They’re working with the builder here. They’re trying to accommodate him while things work out. But they can’t afford to go too far with him either."

The casino still requires nearly $1.4 billion worth of construction, the paper said.