Former casino executive Cliff Atkinson has transferred his interest in an entity that runs the casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas to his partner Chad Konrad just as the property has shown improvement and is embarking on a marketing campaign to attract local residents. The Nevada Gaming Commission approved the transfer Thursday.
The entity known as C&C 4455 LLC took over casino management from the Connecticut- Mohegan Sun tribe just over a year ago.
Atkinson, former president of the hotel, is now head of the Fremont Street Experience. The interest was transferred at no cost to Konrad, a long-time executive with JC Hospitality, the operating company that leases the property from the Virgin Group, owned by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, and a Canadian pension fund. JC was among those that purchased the former Hard Rock in March 2018, then reopened as Virgin in spring 2021.
Dennis Gutwald, a gaming attorney with McDonald Carano representing C&C 4455, said Atkinson found a more interesting and exciting job, which prompted the transfer of his 51% interest to Konrad.
“There’s no compensation involved,” Gutwald said. “There’s not a tremendous amount of assets in that company currently.”
Konrad, who has served as chief financial officer, was asked during the Commission meeting about improved financial results at the property, which has been considered troubled since its reopening.
“I’m very familiar with the property, having been there for 25 years,” Konrad said. “I tried and failed at many things over that time. The success has been a return to fundamentals —understanding our customers’ behavior and what they want for service and product on the floor.”
The property relies on regional drive-in traffic and national tourists, but Konrad said they’ve overlooked Las Vegas residents. He talked about the new marketing for the property that was announced last week focusing on locals and their value options on food and beverage, hotel discounts, and the casino with advertising on billboards, radios and commercials.
“What we tried to accomplish was to bring a much-needed locals presence back,” Konrad said.
At the Gaming Control Board earlier this month, Konrad said the property as a whole “is performing really well. We had a great first quarter and are showing really good growth year-over-year. On the casino side, specifically, the first quarter showed about 10% growth in coin-in, 88% growth in table games revenue, and almost 30% growth in slot revenue.”
On the non-gaming side, Konrad said the property had a good first quarter as well and both January and February exceeded projections. In March, occupancy was ahead of the Strip and 10% higher than a year ago.
“There’s been a lot of transition at the property, and there’s some fundamentals you have to do right before you can be innovative,” Konrad said. “We want to get there. We have growth and good things ahead of us. It’s the low-hanging fruit we can take advantage of immediately.”
A month ago, Konrad said he hired a casino general manager. Jim Simms has an extensive background in the industry and will be submitting his application to the Gaming Control Board for licensing. Konrad is also working with a gaming-industry consultant to help with further improvements.
Konrad said the ownership of the hotel doesn’t overstep their boundaries and get involved with casino management.
