The Cal Neva Lodge & Casino could be aware of renovations from one of the world’s ritziest hotel operators and restaurant chains. Cal Neva is looking to develop the dormant resort on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore with the help of Nobu. Ellison acquired Cal Neva in 2018 for $35.8 million while the property was in bankruptcy receivership. Criswell-Radovan acquired the history-rich venue in 2013 and later that year, it was shuttered for renovations. Cal Neva made an application for a non-restricted gaming license in April.
Cal Neva has history with Nobu. The hotel and restaurant operator runs Ellison’s Epiphany hotel in Palo Alto, California and his Nobu Ryokan hotel in Malibu, Calif. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is among property owners near Cal Neva. According to casino.org, president Trump’s 2017 tax reform bill eliminated some of the real estate deductions previously enjoyed by property owners in high tax states, making Hollywood stars and Silicon Valley elite to embrace the Lake Tahoe area – on the Nevada side.
In 2017, Wynn Resorts founder Steve Wynn sold a house in the tony Incline Village area for $31.1 million, nearly doubling his 1998 investment of $16 million to acquire the property. As the Cal Neva has been closed for more than six years, there are currently just three operational casinos on Tahoe’s North Shore. The new Cal Neva is expected to be a five-star hotel to meet the stringent demands of the elite California clientele Northern Nevada. Dietz reported that projects of this magnitude in Lake Tahoe typically require significant patience on the developer’s part.
