Downtown Grand Headed for Sale After Defaulting on $90 Million Loan

^{Downtown Grand on a beautiful sunny afternoon in Las Vegas. The casino is being prepared for sale under court supervision after defaulting on a $90 million loan. (Photo: Chon Kit Leong / Alamy)}

After years of rumors, it appears as though Downtown Grand will finally be sold. The Las Vegas Review-Journal uncovered documents from the Clark County District Court that show that the casino, a block away from the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas, is being prepared for sale after defaulting on a loan.

Banc of California loaned the owners of Downtown Grand $90 million in 2019 and 2020 for the construction of the Gallery Tower, which was added to the hotel. The loan was due in August 2025, but the bank claims payments stopped in March. It filed suit in December 2025.

150 Investors Already Reviewing the Property 

Downtown Grand has been under court supervision since early January following a request from Banc of California. The casino-hotel is now managed by a court-appointed receiver overseeing efforts to stabilize operations and prepare the property for sale.

The casino remains open and is already being marketed. The receiver, Paul Huygens, has circulated a sales memo and shared about 500 documents with more than 150 potential investors. More than two dozen parties have signed nondisclosure agreements and reviewed the documents. Additional potential buyers have spoken with the receiver by phone.

Despite significant interest, don’t expect names to surface soon. With early talks underway, the next step is formalizing the sale process. The receiver will set bidding procedures and deadlines before reviewing offers and recommending a buyer to the court.

Once approved, the sale will proceed to closing and the transfer of the property. After years of speculation, Downtown Grand may finally change hands in the near future.

Downtown Grand Dared To Be Different

 Before opening, Downtown Grand was planned to be one of the more ambitious casino concepts in Las Vegas. The plan was to extend the former Lady Luck across the street and create a block-party atmosphere.

The idea was to draw visitors from the Fremont Street Experience, just one block away. Despite the proximity, the canopy-covered casino corridor was never close enough to make that connection materialize the way its developers wanted.

When Downtown Grand opened in late 2013, it offered a different experience with streetside blackjack, a new dice game, and a walk-up sports betting window that allowed wagers without entering the casino. Most of these features were short-lived, and the property eventually operated more like a traditional casino.

In addition to on-site restaurants and bars, nearby options included Triple George, the Mob Bar, Pizza Rock, and the Commissary food hall. The food hall debuted with a range of options, including burgers, bao, tacos, and crepes, before shifting to Latin cuisine and eventually closing.

The Commissary food hall at Downtown Grand in 2015. Many concepts have tried to take shape in the space, but have had no lasting luck. (Photo: Commissary Latin Kitchen / Facebook)

Downtown Grand also experimented with esports, hosting tournaments in the former Commissary space and, later in 2017, on the casino floor. Its' William Hill sportsbook took the first esports wager in Las Vegas. Like many of its ideas, the concept didn’t last.

Food halls are now common across the Las Vegas Strip. While esports betting never took off, the HyperX Esports Arena at Luxor has operated successfully since 2018.

Today, Downtown Grand has three hotel towers with more than 1,100 rooms and a rooftop pool deck. The 24,000-square-foot casino floor features 425 slot machines and 10 table games, according to the Nevada Gaming Commission. For comparison, that’s slightly larger than the slots-only Golden Gate casino floor.

The casino may be remembered by some as a failed low-roller casino, but it also served as a testing ground for ideas that later found success elsewhere.

Before Downtown Grand, Golden Nugget was the only downtown casino with a notable pool scene. Its rooftop pool deck may have helped inspire similar offerings at Plaza and Circa.