Vegas Graceland No More

Robert F.X. Sillerman’s Vegas dreams have gotten the squeeze from two sectors that have taken a real pounding in the economic downturn – gambling and real estate.

The media entrepreneur’s real estate company announced in a SEC filing that its 17.7 acres of Las Vegas Strip land that was intended to become an Elvis Presley mecca is to be sold as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy, in agreement with lenders.

FX Real Estate planned for the location a $3 billion Elvis-themed luxury hotel-casino with 2,300 rooms and 93,000 square feet of casino floor space but was unable to fully fund it. Sillerman’s CKX holds a majority stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises.

The current tenants on the land, including a Harley Davidson Café, Travelodge and Hawaiian Marketplace, haven’t brought in enough to service the $475 million mortgage secured by the property, according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to the SEC filing, a bankruptcy court will auction the property with a minimum bid of $256 million. If no takers emerge, it will go to a new private company headed by Sillerman, which would get a new $260 million loan from the first-lien lenders.

But, being a rare opportunity to purchase some land on the Strip, investors might not be able to turn it down. The property is near MGM Mirage’s new $8.5 billion City Center development.