3. Treasure Island Hotel Casino
Sale price: $775 million
Size: 1.6 million square feet
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
It wasn't swashbuckling pirates that ultimately brought Las Vegas icon Treasure Island to its knees. Rather, last year's distressed sale of the casino and its accompanying 2,885-room hotel was a necessary sacrifice for its former owner MGM Mirage. Struggling with a difficult economic climate and hoping to raise some quick cash for its ambitious cross-town City Center venture, the casino operator sold the resort and its famous pirate battle display last March for a mere $775 million. Scooped up by Kansas billionaire Phil Ruffin, various estimates have placed the site's replacement value at nearly four times that amount at $2.7 billion, according to commercial real estate research firm CoStar Group.
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